FRANKLIN  INSTITUTE  LIBRARY 

PHILADELPHIA 


Class. 


J.3-0 Book.(jn.J.3.&>..  Accession.. &.S..  7  & 


•mbers 
BCOND 

an  two 

t  least 

]tt    out 

it  bor- 

it,  the 


I  HUM'     II 

Arti 
and  to  1 

(LASS. 

Sectio 

books 
two  me 
more  tl 

rower  li...., 

latter  shall  have  the  preference. 

Spction  2. — A  fink  of  TEH  CENTS  per  week  shall  be  exacted  tor  the 
detention  of  a  book  beyond  the  limited  time;  and  if  a  book  be  not  re- 
turned within  three  months  it  shall  be  deemed  lost,  and  the  borrower 
shall,  in  addition  to  his  tines,  forfeit  its  value. 

Section  3. — Should  any  book  be  returned  injured,  the  borrower  shall 
pay  for  the  injury,  or  replace  the  book,  as  the  Library  Committee  may 
direct  :  and  if  one  or  more  books,  belonging  to  a  set  or  sets,  be  lost,  the 
borrower  shall  replace  them  or  make  full  restitution. 

Article  VII. — Any  person  removing  from  the  hall,  without  permis- 
sion from  the  proper  authorities,  any  book,  newspaper  or  other  property 
in  charge  of  the  Library  Committee,  shall  be  repotted  to  the  Committee, 
who  may  inflict  any  line  not  exceeding  twenty-live  dollars. 

Article  VIII. —  No  member  or  holder  of  second  class  stock,  whose 

annual  contribution    for  the  current   year  shall   be  unpaid   or   who  is  in 
arrears  for  tines,  shall    be    entitled    to    the    privileges  of  the    Library  or 

Reading  Room. 

Aktici.K  IX. — If  any  member  or  holder  of  second  class  stock.  >hall 
refuse  or  neglect  to  comply  with  the  foregoing  rules,  it  shall  be  the  duty 
of  the  Secretary  to  report  him  to  the  Committee  on  the  Library. 

Article  X.—  Any  member  or  holder  of  second  class  stock,  detected 
in  mutilating  the  newspapers,  pamphlets  or  books  belonging  to  the  Insti- 
tute shall  be  deprived  Of  his  right  of  membership,  and  the  name  of  the 
offender  shall  l>e  made  public. 


M 


¥ 


&LOOJWELDMfif®OBE. 


■ 


INQUIKIES  INTO  HUMAN  FACULTY 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2011  with  funding  from 

Research  Library,  The  Getty  Research  Institute 


http://www.archive.org/details/humanfacultydeveOOgalt 


SPECIMENS  OF  COMPOSITE  PORTRAITURE 


PERSONAL    A.ND     FAMILY. 


\/t\n/i//rr l!u  ('//ill 

Ir/i/nfi/h/lc/w/ 

Medals. 


■ 


\  11 


V>\'o  Sestets. 


1 1  vtn  6  ucmftfi  «  v 
of  scant  Family 

Male  ulritmle 


HEALTH, 


E 

23  Cases, 

Haifa!  E it q wee/ is\ 

12  O/Ptccrs, 
11  Proxdes 


DIS  EASE. 


Tuberculin 'Jfosmsv 


CRIMINALITY, 


£  OF  ft iv  ui< i hi/ 

C  /  ////  f/Ul(  Tt//l  (  A 


CONSUMPTION   AND  OTHER  MALADIES 


Coeotit/iasiti'  p/&  H 


(  onstuit/ttim  Cases. 


Cases 


Xo/  Co/hswii/f/ur 


INQUIEIES 


INTO 


HUMAN    FACULTY 


AND   ITS 


DEVELOPMENT 


BY 

FRANCIS   GALTON,  F.R. 

AUTHOR  OF  '  HEREDITARY  GENIUS,'  ETC. 


£tcfo  gorfc 

MACMILLAN    AND    CO. 
1883 


Printed  by  R.  &  R.  Clark,  Edinburgh. 


CONTENTS. 


Introduction,  1. — Origin  and  object  of  book,  1. 

Variety  of  Human  Nature,  2. — Many  varieties  may  eacb  be 
good  of  its  kind,  2  ;  advantage  of  variety,  3  ;  some  peculiarities  are, 
huWLver,  harmful,  3. 

Features,  4. — Large  number  of  elements  in  the  human  expres- 
sion, 4  ;  of  touches  in  a  portrait,  5  ;  difficulty  of  measuring  the  separate 
features,  5  ;  or  of  selecting  typical  individuals,  5  ;  the  typical  English 
face,  6  ;  its  change  at  different  historical  periods,  6  ;  colour  of  hair  of 
modern  English,  7  ;  caricatures,  8. 

Composite  Portraiture,  8  (see  Appendix  for  three  Memoirs  de- 
scribing successive  stages  of  the  method). — Object  and  principle  of  the 
process,  8  ;  description  of  the  frontispiece — composites  of  medals,  1 1  ; 
of  family  portraits,  1 2  ;  of  the  two  sexes  and  of  various  ages,  1 3  ;  of 
Eoyal  Engineers,  14  ;  the  latter  gives  a  clue  to  one  direction  in  which 
the  English  race  might  be  improved,  14  ;  of  criminals,  15  ;  of  the 
consumptive,  16  ;  ethnological  application  of  the  process,  18. 

Bodily  Qualities,  19. — Anthropometric  Committee,  19  ;  statis- 
tical anomalies  in  stature  as  dependent  on  age,  20  ;  town  and  rural 
population,  20  ;  athletic  feats  now  .and  formerly,  21  ;  increase  of 
stature  of  middle  classes,  22  ;  large  number  of  weakly  persons,  23  ; 
some  appearances  of  weakness  may  be  fallacious,  23  ;  a  barrel  and  a 
wheel,  24  ;  definition  of  word  "eugenic." 

Energy,  25. — It  is  the  attribute  of  high  races,  2-5  ;  useful  stimuli 
to  activity,  25  ;  fleas,  etc.,  26  ;  the  preservation  of  the  weakly  as 
exercises  for  pity,  26  ;  that  of  foxes  for  sport,  27. 

Sensitivity,  27. — Sensation  and  pain,  27  ;  range  and  grades  of 
sensation,  28  ;  idiots,  28  ;  men  and  women,  29  ;  the  blind,  30  ;  read- 
ing by  touch,  31  ;  sailors,  32  ;  paucity  of  words  to  express  grada- 
tion, 33. 


S'SJ  & 


vi  CONTENTS. 

Sequence  op  Test  Weights,  34  (see  also  Appendix,  p.  370). — 
Geometric  series  of  weights,  34  ;  method  of  using  them,  35  ;  the  same 
principle  is  applicable  to  other  senses,  35  ;  the  tests  only  measure  the 
state  of  faculties  at  time  of  trial,  36  ;  cautions  in  constructing  the  test 
weights,  36  ;  multiplicity  of  the  usual  perceptions,  37. 

"Whistles  for  Audibility  of  Shrill  Notes,  38  (see  also  Appendix, 
p.  375). — Construction  of  them,  38  ;  loss  of  power  of  hearing  high  notes 
as  age  advances,  38  ;  trials  upon  animals,  39  ;  sensitivity  of  cats  to 
high  notes,  39  ;  of  small  dogs  and  ponies,  40. 

Anthropometric  Registers,  40. — Want  of  anthropometric  labo- 
ratories, 40  ;  of  family  records,  41  ;  opportunities  in  schools,  42  ; 
Admiralty  records  of  life  of  each  seaman,  42  ;  family  registers,  43  (see 
also  336)  ;  autotypes,  44  ;  medical  value  of  ancestral  life -histories,  44 
(see  also  336)  ;  of  their  importance  to  human  eugenics,  44. 

Unconsciousness  of  Peculiarities,  45. — Colour  blindness  usually 
unsuspected,  45  ;  unconsciousness  of  high  intellectual  gifts,  46  ;  of 
peculiarities  of  mental  imagery,  46  ;  heredity  of  colour  blindness  in 
Quakers,  47  ;  Young  and  Dalton,  48. 

Statistical  Methods,- 49. — Objects  of  statistical  science,  49  ;  con- 
stancy and  continuity  of  statistical  results,  49  ;  groups  and  sub-groups, 
50  ;  augival  or  ogival  curves,  51  ;  wide  application  of  the  ogival 
method,  52  ;  example,  53  ;  first  method  of  comparing  two  ogival 
groups,  53  ;  centesimal  grades,  53  ;  example,  54  ;  second  method  of 
comparing  ogival  groups,  54  ;  statistical  records  easily  made  with  a 
pricker,  55. 

Character,  56. — Caprice  and  coyness  of  females,  56  ;  'its  cause, 
56  ;  observations  of  character  at  schools,  57  ;  varieties  of  likings  and 
antipathies,  58  ;  horror  of  snakes  is  by  no  means  universal,  58  ;  the 
horror  of  blood  among  cattle  is  variable,  60. 

Criminals  and  the  Insane,  61. — Peculiarities  of  criminal  char- 
acter, 61  ;  some  of  them  are  normal  and  not  morbid,  62  ;  their  in- 
heritance as  in  the  Jukes  family,  63  ;  epileptics  and  their  nervous 
instability,  65  ;  insanity,  66  ;  religious  rapture,  67  ;  strange  views  of 
the  insane  on  individuality,  67  ;  their  moody  segregation,  67  ;  the 
religious  discipline  of  celibacy,  fasting,  and  solitude,  68  (see  also  74)  ; 
large  field  of  study  among  the  insane  and  idiotic,  68. 

Gregarious  and  Slavish  Instincts,  68. — Most  men  shrink  from 
responsibility,  69  ;  study  of  gregarious  animals,  69  ;  especially  of  the 


CONTENTS.  VU 

cattle  of  the  Damaras,  70  ;  fore-oxen  to  waggon  teams,  72  ;  conditions 
of  safety  of  herds,  74  ;  cow  and  young  calf  when  approached  by  lions, 
75  ;  the  most  effective  size  of  herd,  75  ;  corresponding  production  of 
leaders,  77  ;  similarly  as  regards  barbarian  tribes  and  their  leaders,  78  ; 
power  of  tyranny  vested  in  chiefs,  79  ;  political  and  religious  persecu- 
tions, 80  ;  hence  human  servility,  80  ;  but  society  may  nourish  with- 
out servility,  81  ;  its  corporate  actions  would  then  have  statistical 
constancy,  81  ;  nations  who  are  guided  by  successive  orators,  etc., 
must  be  inconstant,  81  ;  the  romantic  side  of  servility,  82  ;  free  poli- 
tical life,  82. 

Intellectual  Differences,  82. — Reference  to  Hereditary  Genius, 
83. 

Mental  Imagery,  83. — Purport  of  inquiry,  83  ;  circular  of  ques- 
tions, 84  (see  Appendix  for  this,  p.  378)  ;  the  first  answers  were  from 
scientific  men,  and  were  negative,  85  ;  those  from  persons  in  general 
society  were  quite  the  reverse,  85  ;  sources  of  my  materials,  86  ;  they 
are  mutually  corroborative,  87.  Analysis  of  returns  from  100  persons 
mostly  of  some  eminence,  88  ;  extracts  from' replies  of  those  in  whom 
the  visualising  faculty  is  highest,  89  ;  those  in  whom  it  is  mediocre, 
90  ;  lowest,  91  ;  conformity  between  these  and  other  sets  of  haphazard 
returns,  92  ;  octile,  median,  etc.,  values,  93  ;  visualisation  of  colour, 
94;  some  liability  to  exaggeration,  94  ;  blindfold  chess-players,  95  ; 
remarkable  instances  of  visualisation,  95,  96  ;  the  faculty  is  not  neces- 
sarily connected  with  keen  sight  or  tendency  to  dream,  97  ;  compre- 
hensive imagery,  97  ;  the  faculty  in  different  sexes  and  ages,  99  ;  is 
strongly  hereditary,  100  ;  seems  notable  among  the  French,  100  ; 
Bushmen,  101  ;  Eskimo,  103  ;  prehistoric  men,  104  ;  admits  of  being 
educated,  105  ;  imagery  usually  fails  in  flexibility,  108  ;  special  and 
generic  images,  109  (see  also  Appendix,  p.  349);  use  of  the  faculty, 
112. 

Number-Forms,  114. — General  account  of  the  peculiarity  ;  115  ; 
mutually  corroborative  statements,  117  ;  personal  evidence  given  at 
the  Anthropological  Institute,  118;  specimens  of  a  few  descriptions  and 
illustrative  woodcuts,  119  ;  great  variety  in  the  Forms,  122  ;  their 
early  origin,  123  ;  directions  in  which  they  run,  123  ;  bold  concep- 
tions of  children  concerning  height  and  depth,  124  ;  historical  dates, 
months,  etc.,  128  ;  alphabet,  129  ;  derivation  of  the  Forms  from  the 
spoken  names  of  numerals,  125  ;  fixity  of  the  Form  compared  to  that 
of  the  handwriting,  126  ;  of  animals  working  in  constant  patterns, 
127  ;  of  track  of  eye  when  searching  for  lost  objects,  127  ;  occasional 
origin  from  figures  on  clock,  127  ;  from  various  other  sources,  128  ; 


viii  CONTEXTS. 

the  non-decimal  nomenclature  of  numerals,  128  ;  perplexity  caused 
by  it,  129.  Description  of  figures  in  Plate  I.,  130  ;  Plate  II.,  136  ; 
Plate  III.,  140  ;  Plate  IV.,  141.  Colours  assigned  to  numerals,  143 
(see  146)  ;  personal  characters,  144  ;  sex,  144  ;  frequency  with  which 
the  various  numerals  are  used  in  the  Talmud,  145. 

Colour  Associations,  145. — (Description  of  Plate  IV.  continued, 
146)  Associations  with  numerals,  146  ;  with  words  and  letters,  147  ; 
illustrations  by  Dr.  J.  Key,  151;  the  scheme  of  one  seer  unintelligible 
to  other  seers,  153  ;  mental  music,  etc.,  154. 

Visionaries,  155. — Sane  persons  often  see  visions,  155  ;  the 
simpler  kimls  nt' visions,  155  ;  unconsciousness  of  seers,  at  first,  of  their 
peculiarity,  156  ;  subsequent  dislike  to  speak  about  it,  156  ;  imagery 
connected  with  words,  157  ;  that  of  Mrs.  Haweis,  157  ;  automatic 
changes  in  dark  field  of  eye,  158  ;  my  own  experiences,  158  ;  those  of 
Rev.  G.  Henslow,  159  ;  visions  frequently  unlike  vivid  visualisations, 
163  ;  phantasmagoria,  166  ;  hallucinations,  167  ;  simile  of  a  seal  in  a 
pond,  168  ;  dreams  and  partial  sensitiveness  of  brain,  169  ;  hallucina- 
tions and  illusions,  their  causes,  169  ;  "faces  in  the  fire,"  etc.,  170  ; 
sub-conscious  picture-drawing,  172  ;  visions  based  on  patched  recollec- 
tions, 173  ;  on  blended  recollections,  173  ;  hereditary  seership,  173  ; 
visions  caused  by  fasting,  etc.,  174  ;  by  spiritual  discipline,  174  (see 
also  68) ;  star  of  Napoleon  I.,  175  :  hallucinations  of  great  men,  176  ; 
seers  commoner  at  some  periods  than  at  others,  176  ;  reasons  why, 
177. 

Nurture  and  Nature,  177. — Their  effects  are  difficult  to  separate, 
177;  the  same  character  has  many  phases,  178  ;  Renaissance,  178  ; 
changes  owing  merely  to  love  of  change,  179  ;  feminine  fashions,  180  ; 
periodical  sequences  of  changed  character  in  birds,  181  ;  the  interaction 
of  nurture  and  nature,  181. 

Associations,  182. — Derived  from  experience,  182  ;  especiallv 
from  childish  recollections,  182  (see  195)  ;  abstract  ideas,  183  ;  cumu- 
lative ideas,  like  composite  portraits,  183  (see  also  Appendix,  "Generic 
Images,"  p.  349)  ;  their  resemblance  even  in  details,  184. 

Psychometric  Experiments,  185. — Difficulty  of  watching  the  mind 
in  operation,  185  ;  how  it  may  be  overcome,  185  ;  irksomeness  of  the 
process,  186  ;  tentative  experiments,  186  ;  method  used  subsequently, 
188  ;  the  number  of  recurrent  associations,  191  ;  memory,  192  ;  ages 
at  which  associations  are  formed,  195  ;  similarity  of  the  associations  in 
persons  of  the  same  country  and  class  of  society,  196  ;  different  descrip- 


CONTENTS.  IX 

tions  of  associations,  classified,  197  ;  their  relative  frequency,  199  ; 
abstract  ideas  are  slowly  formed,  201  ;  multifariousness  of  sub-con- 
scious operations,  202. 

Antechamber  of  Consciousness,  203. — Act  of  thinking  analysed, 
203  ;  automatic  mental  work,  204  ;  fluency  of  words  and  of  imagery, 

205  ;  processes  of  literary  composition,  206  ;  fluency  of  spiritual  ideas, 

206  ;  visionary  races  of  men,  207  ;  morbid  ideas  of  inspiration,  207 
(see  Enthusiasm,  294). 

Early  Sentiments,  208. — Accidents  of  education,  religion,  country, 
etc.,  208  ;  deaf-mutes  and  religious  ritual,  208  ;  religion  in  its  essen- 
tials, 209  ;  all  religious  teachers  preach  faith  and  instil  prejudices,  210  ; 
origin  of  the  faculty  of  conscience,  211;  evolution  is  always  behind- 
hand, 212  ;  good  men  of  various  faiths,  212  ;  the  fear  of  death,  213  ; 
terror  is  easily  taught,  213  ;  gregarious  animals,  214  (see  also  69)  ; 
suspiciousness  in  the  children  of  criminals,  214  ;  Dante  and  contem- 
porary artists  on  the  terrors  of  hell,  215  ;  aversion  is  easily  taught, 
Eastern  ideas  of  clean  and  unclean  acts,  216;  the  foregoing  influences 
affect  entire  classes,  216. 

History  op  Twins,  216. — It  supplies  means  of  comparing  the 
effects  of  nurture  and  nature,  217;  physiological  signification  of  twin- 
ship,  218  ;  replies  to  a  circular  of  inquiries,  219  ;  eighty  cases  of 
close  resemblance  between  twins,  219  ;  the  points  in  which  their 
resemblance  was  closest,  219  ;  extracts  from  the  replies,  220  ;  inter- 
changeableness  of  likeness,  226  ;  cases  of  similar  forms  of  insanity  in 
both  twins,  228  ;  their  tastes  and  dispositions,  231  ;  causes  of  growing 
dissimilarity  mainly  referred  to  illness,  233  ;  partly  to  gradual  de- 
velopment of  latent  elements  of  dissimilarity,  234  ;  effect  of  childish 
illnesses  in  permanently  checking  growth  of  head,  235  ;  parallel  lives 
and  deaths  among  twins,  236  ;  necessitarianism,  237  ;  twenty  cases  of 
great  dissimilarity,  237  ;  extracts  from  the  replies,  238  ;  evidence  of 
slight  exaggeration,  240  ;  education  is  almost  powerless  to  diminish 
natural  difference  of  character,  240  ;  simile  of  sticks  floating  down 
a  brook,  241  ;  depth  of  impressions  made  in  childhood,  241  ;  they 
are  partly  due  to  the  ease  with  which  parents  and  children  under- 
stand one  another,  242  ;  cuckoos  forget  the  teachings  of  their  foster- 
mothers,  242. 

Domestication  of  Animals,  243. — Alternative  hypotheses  of  the 
prehistoric  process  of  domestication,  243  ;  savages  rear  captive  animals, 
245  ;  instances  in  North  America,  246  ;  South  America,  247  ;  North 
Africa,  248  ;  Equatorial  Africa,  249  ;  South  Africa,  250  ;  Australia, 


X  CONTEXTS. 

251  ;  New  Guinea  Group,  252  ;  Polynesia,  252  ;  ancient  Syria,  253. 
Sacred  animals,  253  ;  menageries  and  shows  in  amphitheatres,  255  ; 
instances  in  ancient  Egypt,  256  ;  Assyria,  256  ;  Rome,  256  ;  Mexico, 
257  ;  Peru,  257  ;  Syria  and  Greece,  258.  Domestication  is  only 
possible  when  the  species  has  certain  natural  faculties,  viz. — great 
hardiness,  259  ;  fondness  for  man,  259  ;  desire  of  comfort,  262  ;  use- 
fulness to  man,  264  ;  fertility,  267  ;  being  easy  to  tend,  268. 
Habitual  selection  of  the  tamest  to  breed  from,  269.  Exceptions, 
270  ;  summary,  270. 

Possibilities  of  Theocratic  Intervention,  271. — Objections 
raised  to  trustworthiness  of  any  statistical  results,  272  ;  simile  of  silk- 
worms and  their  caretaker,  watched  imperfectly  by  an  observer,  272  ; 
four  hypothetical  cases  discussed,  274  ;  a  fifth  that  was  suggested  by 
Milton  is  disregarded,  275  ;  influence  of  free-will  on  statistical  results, 
276. 

Objective  Efficacy  of  Prayer,  277. — Failure  of  argument 
derived  from  the  general  use  of  prayer,  277  ;  individual  cases  are  not 
discussed  here,  278  ;  only  broad  results,  278  ;  viz. — the  average 
recovery  from  disease,  278  ;  longevity,  280  ;  the  statistics  of  life- 
histories  of  divines,  283  ;  of  missionaries,  283  ;  of  averages  of  still- 
births, 285  ;  of  insanity,  285  ;  of  rain  and  fair  weather,  286  ;  of 
origin  of  influential  Englishmen,  286.;  of  Lord  Chancellors,  286  ;  of 
English  Dukes,  287.  Clergymen  as  coadjutors  in  matters  of  business, 
289.  No  special  success  of  enterprises  made  by  the  pious  under  the 
conduct  of  others,  289  ;  sea  risks,  290  ;  of  missionary  vessels  and 
slavers,  291  ;  no  special  security  of  banks  entrusted  with  funds  for 
pious  purposes,  292  ;  the  insurance  offices  disregard  evidence  of  devout 
habits,  292  ;  the  formerly  assumed  immunity  of  churches  from  light- 
ning is  now  disproved,  293  ;  their  liability  to  other  risks,  293  ;  the 
royal  touch  for  disease  is  now  abandoned,  293  ;  so  are  persecutions 
of  witches,  ordeals,  wonder-working  relics,  etc.,  293  ;  abandonment  of 
the  Urim  and  Thummin,  etc.,  294  ;  the  onus  probandi  lies  on  the 
other  side,  294. 

Enthusiasm,  294. — Ancient  and  modern  meanings  of  the  word, 

294  ;  question  as  to  the  encouragement  of  spiritually-minded  races, 

295  ;  continued  absence  of  distinct  evidence  that  the  faculty  exists 
of  communing  with  an  unseen  world,  295  ;  facts  that  appear  to 
negative  it,  296  ;  the  final  appeal  is  to  reiterated  and  always  verifi- 
able observation,  297  ;  duty  of  suspending  belief  whenever  there  is 
serious  doubt,  298  ;  faculty  of  communion  with  our  own  hearts,  298. 


CONTENTS.  XI 

The  Observed  Order  op  Events,  299. — Steady  improvement  in 
the  birthright  of  successive  generations,  299  ;  our  ignorance  of  the 
origin  and  purport  of  all  existence,  300  ;  of  the  outcome  of  life  on 
this  earth,  300  ;  of  the  conditions  of  consciousness,  301  ;  slow  pro- 
gress of  evolution  and  its  system  of  ruthless  routine,  302  ;  man  is 
the  heir  of  long  bygone  ages,  303  ;  has  great  power  in  expediting  the 
course  of  evolution,  304  ;  he  might  render  its  progress  less  slow  and 
painful,  304  ;  does  not  yet  understand  that  it  may  be  his  part  to  do 
so,  304. 

Selection  and  Race,  305. — Difference  between  the  best  speci- 
mens of  a  poor  race  and  the  mediocre  ones  of  a  high  race,  305  ; 
typical  centres  to  which  races  tend  to  revert,  305  ;  delicacy  of  highly- 
bred  animals,  306  ;  their  diminished  fertility,  306  ;  the  misery  of 
rigorous  selection,  307  ;  it  is  preferable  to  replace  poor  races  by  better 
ones,  307  ;  strains  of  emigrant  blood,  307  ;  of  exiles,  308. 

Influence  op  Man  upon  Race,  308. — Conquest,  migrations,  etc., 
308  ;  sentiment  against  extinguishing  races,  308  ;  is  partly  unreason- 
able, 309  ;  the  so-called  "aborigines,"  310  ;  on  the  variety  and 
number  of  different  races  inhabiting  the  same  country,  310  ;  as  in 
Spain,  311;  history  of  the  Moors,  312;  Gypsies,  312;  the  races  in 
Damara  Land,  313  ;  their  recent  changes,  314  ;  races  in  Siberia,  315  ; 
Africa,  315  ;  America,  315  ;  West  Indies,  316  ;  Australia  and  New 
Zealand,  316  ;  wide  diffusion  of  Arabs  and  Chinese,  316  ;  power  of 
man  to  shape  future  humanity,  317. 

Population,  317. — Over-population,  317  ;  Malthus — the  danger 
of  applying  his  prudential  check,  318  ;  his  originality,  318  ;  his 
phrase  of  misery  check  is  in  many  cases  too  severe,  319  ;  decaying 
races  and  the  cause  of  decay,  319. 

Early  and  Late  Marriages,  320. — Estimate  of  their  relative 
effects  on  a  population  in  a  few  generations,  320  ;  example,  321. 

Marks  for  Family  Merit,  323.— rOn  the  demand  for  definite 
proposals  how  to  improve  race,  323  ;  the  demand  is  not  quite  fair, 
and  the  reasons  why,  323  ;  nevertheless  attempt  is  made  to  suggest 
the  outline  of  one,  324  ;  on  the  signs  of  superior  race,  324  ;  import- 
ance of  giving  weight  to  them  when  making  selections  from  candidates 
who  are  personally  equal,  324  ;  on  families  that  have  thriven,  325  ; 
that  are  healthy  and  long-lived,  325  ;  present  rarity  of  our  knowledge 
concerning  family  antecedents,  325  ;  Mr.  F.  M.  Hollond  on  the 
superior  morality  of  members  of  large  families,  326  ;  Sir  William  Gull 
on  their  superior  vigour,   326  ;  claim  for  importance  of  further  in- 


xu  CONTENTS. 

quiries  into  the  family  antecedents  of  those  who  succeed  in  after  life, 
327  ;  probable  large  effect  of  any  system  by  which  marks  might  be 
conferred  on  the  ground  of  family  merit,  327. 

Endowments,  328. — These  have  frequently  been  made  in  order 
to  furnish  marriage  portions,  328  ;  they,  as  well  as  the  adoption  of 
gifted  children  of  gifted  families,  may  hereafter  become  common,  328  ; 
college  statutes  enjoining  celibacy  on  Fellows,  329  ;  reverse  effect  to 
that  for  which  prizes  at  races  were  established,  329  ;  the  recent  reform 
of  those  statutes  and  numerous  marriages  in  consequence,  329  ;  the 
English  race  has  yet  to  be  explored  for  its  natural  wealth,  330  ;  those 
who  are  naturally  gifted  would  be  disinclined  to  squander  their 
patrimony,  330  ;  social  consideration,  330  ;  honest  pride  in  goodness 
of  race,  331. 

Conclusion,  331. — Epitome  of  data,  331  ;  the  apparent  place  of 
man  in  nature,  333  ;  he  should  look  upon  himself  as  a  freeman,  334  ; 
he  should  assist  in  furthering  evolution,  334  ;  his  present  ability  to 
do  so,  335  ;  the  certainty  that  his  ability  of  doing  so  will  increase, 
336  ;  importance  of  life-histories,  336  ;  brief  summary,  337. 


APPENDIX. 

A.  List  of  Memoirs,  338. 

B.  Composite  Portraiture,  339. — I.  Extract  of  Memoir  read  in 
1878  before  the  Anthropological  Institute,  340  ;  II.  Generic  Images, 
extract  from  Lecture  in  1879  to  Royal  Institution,  349  ;  III.  Memoir 
read  in  1881  before  the  Photographic  Society,  354. 

C.  The  Relative  Supplies  prom  Town  and  Country  Families 
to  the  Population  op  Future  Generations  (Memoir  read  in  1873 
before  the  Statistical  Society),  363. 

D.  An  Apparatus  for  Testing  the  Delicacy  by  which 
Weights  can  be  Discriminated  by  Handling  them  (Memoir  read  in 
1882  before  the  Anthropological  Institute),  370. 

E.  Whistles  for  Testing  the  Upper  Limits  of  Audible  Sound 
in  Different  Individuals  (read  in  1876  at  the  South  Kensington 
Conferences  in  connection  with  the  Loan  Exhibition  of  Scientific 
Instruments),  375. 

F.  Questions  on  Visualising  and  other  Allied  Faculties 
(circulated  in  1880),  378. 


PLATES. 

Specimens  op  Composite  Portraiture  .         .        Frontispiece. 

Plate      I.  Examples  of  Number-Forms       .         .        End  of  Booh. 

„      III.  „  „         Hereditary  „ 

„       IV.  Colour  Associations  and  Mental  Imagery  „ 


INQUIRIES  INTO  HUMAN  FACULTY. 


Introduction. 

Since  the  publication  of  my  work  on  Hereditary 
Genius  in  1869, 1  have  written  numerous  memoirs,  of 
which  a  list  is  given  in  the  Appendix,  and  which  are 
scattered  in  various  publications.  They  may  have 
appeared  desultory  when  read  in  the  order  in  which 
they  appeared,  but  as  they  had  an  underlying  connec- 
tion it  seems  worth  while  to  bring  their  substance 
together  in  logical  sequence  into  a  single  volume.  I 
have  revised,  condensed,  largely  re-written,  transposed 
old  matter,  and  interpolated  much  that  is  new ;  but 
traces  of  the  fragmentary  origin  of  the  work  still 
remain,  and  I  do  not  regret  them.  They  serve  to 
show  that  the  book  is  intended  to  be  suggestive,  and 
renounces  all  claim  to  be  encyclopedic.  I  have  in- 
deed, with  that  object,  avoided  going  into  details  in  not 
a  few  cases  where  I  should  otherwise  have  written 
with  fulness,  especially  in  the  Anthropometric  part. 
My  general  object  has  been  to  take  note  of  the  varied 
hereditary  faculties  of  different  men,  and  of  the  great 
differences  in  different  families  and  races,  to  learn  how 


2  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

far  history  may  have  shown  the  practicability  of  sup- 
planting inefficient  human  stock  by  better  strains,  and 
to  consider  whether  it  might  not  be  our  duty  to  do  so 
by  such  efforts  as  may  be  reasonable,  thus  exerting 
ourselves  to  further  the  ends  of  evolution  more  rapidly 
and  with  less  distress  than  if  events  were  left  to  their 
own  course.  The  subject  is,  however,  so  entangled 
with  collateral  considerations  that  a  straightforward 
step -by -step  inquiry  did  not  seem  to  be  the  most 
suitable  course.  I  thought  it  safer  to  proceed  like  the 
surveyor  of  a  new  country,  and  endeavour  to  fix  in  the 
first  instance  as  truly  as  I  could  the  position  of  several 
cardinal  points.  The  general  outline  of  the  results  to 
which  I  finally  arrived  became  more  coherent  and 
clear  as  this  process  went  on ;  they  are  briefly  sum- 
marised in  the  concluding  chapter. 


Variety  of  Human  Nature. 

We  must  free  our  minds  of  a  great  deal  of  prejudice 
before  we  can  rightly  judge  of  the  direction  in  which 
different  races  need  to  be  improved.  We  must  be  on 
our  guard  against  taking  our  own  instincts  of  what 
is  best  and  most  seemly,  as  a  criterion  for  the  rest 
of  mankind.  The  instincts  and  faculties  of  different 
men  and  races  differ  in  a  variety  of  ways  almost 
as  profoundly  as  those  of  animals  in  different  cages 
of  the  Zoological  Gardens ;  and  however  diverse  and 
antagonistic  they  are,  each  may  be  good  of  its  kind. 
It  is  obviously  so  in  brutes  ;  the  monkey  may  have  a 


VARIETY   OF   HUMAN   NATURE.  3 

horror  at  the  sight  of  a  snake,  and  a  repugnance  to 
its  ways,  but  a  snake  is  just  as  perfect  an  animal 
as  a  monkey.  The  living  world  does  not  consist 
of  a  repetition  of  similar  elements,  but  of  an  end- 
less variety  of  them,  that  have  grown,  body  and 
soul,  through  selective  influences  into  close  adapta- 
tion to  their  contemporaries,  and  to  the  physical 
circumstances  of  the  localities  they  inhabit.  The 
moral  and  intellectual  wealth  of  a  nation  largely 
consists  in  the  multifarious  variety  of  the  gifts  of  the 
men  who  compose  it,  and  it  would  be  the  very  reverse 
of  improvement  to  make  all  its  members  assimilate  to 
a  common  type.  However,  in  every  race  of  domesti- 
cated animals,  and  especially  in  the  rapidly-changing 
race  of  man,  there  are  elements,  some  ancestral  and 
others  the  result  of  degeneration,  that  are  of  little  or 
no  value,  or  are  positively  harmful.  We  may,  of 
course,  be  mistaken  about  some  few  of  these,  and  shall 
find  in  our  fuller  knowledge  that  they  subserve  the 
public  good  in  some  indirect  manner ;  but,  notwith- 
standing this  possibility,  we  are  justified  in  roundly 
asserting  that  the  natural  characteristics  of  every 
human  race  admit  of  large  improvement  in  many 
directions  easy  to  specify. 

I  do  not,  however,  offer  a  list  of  these,  but  shall 
confine  myself  to  directing  attention  to  a  very  few 
hereditary  characteristics  of  a  marked  kind,  some  of 
which  are  most  desirable  and  others  greatly  the 
reverse  ;  I  shall  also  describe  new  methods  of  apprais- 
ing and  defining  them.     Later  on  in  the  book  I  shall 


4  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

endeavour  to  define  the  place  and  duty  of  man  in  the 
furtherance  of  the  great  scheme  of  evolution,  and  I 
shall  show  that  he  has  already  not  only  adapted  cir- 
cumstance to  race,  but  also,  in  some  degree  and  often 
unconsciously,  race  to  circumstance  ;  and  that  his 
unused  powers  in  the  latter  direction  are  more  con- 
siderable than  might  have  been  thought. 

It  is  with  the  innate  moral  and  intellectual  facul- 
ties that  the  book  is  chiefly  concerned,  but  they  are 
so  closely  bound  up  with  the  physical  ones  that  these 
must  be  considered  as  well.  It  is,  moreover,  con- 
venient to  take  them  the  first,  so  I  will  begin  with 
the  features. 

Features. 

The  differences  in  human  features  must  be  reck- 
oned great,  inasmuch  as  they  enable  us  to  distinguish 
a  single  known  face  among  those  of  thousands  of 
strangers,  though  they  are  mostly  too  minute  for 
measurement.  At  the  same  time,  they  are  ex- 
ceedingly numerous.  The  general  expression  of  a 
face  is  the  sum  of  a  multitude  of  small  details, 
which  are  viewed  in  such  rapid  succession  that  we 
seem  to  perceive  them  all  at  a  single  glance.  If  any 
one  of  them  disagrees  with  the  recollected  traits  of 
a  known  face,  the  eye  is  quick  at  observing  it, 
and  it  dwells  upon  the  difference.  One  small  dis- 
cordance overweighs  a  multitude  of  similarities  and 
suggests    a    general   unlikeness ;    just   as    a    single 


FEATURES.  5 

syllable  in  a  sentence  pronounced  with  a  foreign 
accent  makes  one  cease  to  look  upon  the  speaker 
as  a  countryman.  If  the  first  rough  sketch  of  a 
portrait  be  correct  so  far  as  it  goes,  it  may  be  pro- 
nounced an  excellent  likeness ;  but  a  rough  sketch 
does  not  go  far ;  it  contains  but  few  traits  for  com- 
parison with  the  original.  It  is  a  suggestion,  not  a 
likeness  ;  it  must  be  coloured  and  shaded  with  many 
touches  before  it  can  really  resemble  the  face,  aud 
whilst  this  is  being  done  the  maintenance  of  the 
likeness  is  imperilled  at  every  step.  I  lately  watched 
an  able  artist  painting  a  portrait,  and  endeavoured  to 
estimate  the  number  of  strokes  with  his  brush,  every 
one  of  which  was  thoughtfully  and  firmly  given. 
During  fifteen  sittings  of  three  working  hours  each — 
that  is  to  say,  during  forty-five  hours,  or  two  thousand 
four  hundred  minutes — he  worked  at  the  average  rate 
of  ten  strokes  of  the  brush  per  minute.  There  were, 
therefore,  twenty-four  thousand  separate  traits  in  the 
completed  portrait,  and  in  his  opinion  some,  I  do  not 
say  equal,  but  comparably  large  number  of  units  of 
resemblance  with  the  original. 

The  physiognomical  difference  between  different 
men  being  so  numerous  and  small,  it  is  impossible  to 
measure  and  compare  them  each  to  each,  and  to  discover 
by  ordinary  statistical  methods  the  true  physiognomy 
of  a  race.  The  usual  way  is  to  select  individuals  who 
are  judged  to  be  representatives  of  the  prevalent  type, 
and  to  photograph  them ;  but  this  method  is  not  trust- 
worthy, because  the  judgment  itself  is  fallacious.  It 
is  swayed  by  exceptional  and  grotesque  features  more 


6  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

than  by  ordinary  ones,  and  the  portraits  supposed 
to  be  typical  are  likely  to  be  caricatures.  One  fine 
Sunday  afternoon  I  sat  with  a  friend  by  the  walk  in 
Kensington  Gardens  that  leads  to  the  bridge,  and 
which  on  such  occasions  is  thronged  by  promenaders. 
It  was  agreed  between  us  that  whichever  first  caught 
sight  of  a  typical  John  Bull  should  call  the  attention 
of  the  other.  AVe  sat  and  watched  keenly  for  many 
minutes,  but  neither  of  us  found  occasion  to  utter  a 
word. 

The  prevalent  type  of  English  face  has  greatly 
changed  at  different  periods,  for  after  making  large 
allowance  for  the  fashion  in  portrait  painting  of  the 
day,  there  remains  a  great  difference  between  the 
proportion  in  which  certain  casts  of  features  are  to  be 
met  with  at  different  dates.  I  have  spent  some  time 
in  studying  the  photographs  of  the  various  portraits 
of  English  worthies  that  have  been  exhibited  at  suc- 
cessive loan  collections,  or  which  are  now  in  the 
National  Portrait  Gallery,  and  have  traced  what 
appear  to  be  indisputable  signs  of  one  predominant 
type  of  face  supplanting  another.  For  instance,  the 
features  of  the  men  painted  by  and  about  the  time  of 
Holbein  have  usually  high  cheek-bones,  long  upper 
lips,  thin  eyebrows,  and  lank  dark  hair.  It  would 
be  impossible,  I  think,  for  the  majority  of  modern 
Englishmen  so  to  dress  themselves  and  clip  and 
arrange  their  hair,  as  to  look  like  the  majority  of 
these  portraits. 

Englishmen  are  now  a  fair  and  reddish  race,  as 
may   be   seen   from   the  Diagram,  taken   from   the 


FEATURES. 


Report  of  the  Anthropometric  Committee  to  the 
British  Association  in  1880,  and  which  gives  the 
proportion  in  which  the  various  colours  of  hair  are 
found  among  our  professional  classes. 


Albino 

Very  fair 

Fair 

Light  brown 

Brown 

Dark  brown 

Black  brown 

Black 

Red  brown — dark  red 

Red 

Golden — Light  red 


I  take  the  professional  classes  because  they  corre- 
spond with  the  class  of  English  worthies  better  than 
any  of  the  others  from  which  returns  have  been 
collected.  The  Diagram,  however,  gives  a  fair 
representation  of  other  classes  of  the  community. 
For  instance,  I  have  analysed  the  official  records  of 
the  very  carefully  selected  crews  of  H.-M.S.  Alert  and 
Discovery  in  the  Arctic  Expedition  of  1875-6,  and 
find  the  proportion  of  various  shades  of  hair  to  be 
the  same  among  them  as  is  shown  in  the  Diagram. 
Seven-tenths  of  the  crews  had  complexions  described 
as  light,  fair,  fresh,  ruddy  or  freckled,  and  the  same 
proportion  had  blue  or  gray  eyes.  They  would  have 
contrasted  strongly  with  Cromwell's  regiment  of  Iron- 
sides, who  were  recruited  from  the  dark-haired  men 
of  the  fen  districts,  and  who  are  said  to  have  left  the 
impression  on  contemporary  observers  as  being  men 


8  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

of  a  peculiar  breed.  They  would  also  probably  have 
contrasted  with  any  body  of  thoroughgoing  Puritan 
soldiers  taken  at  haphazard ;  for  there  is  a  prevalence 
of  dark  hair  anions:  men  of  atrabilious  and  sour 
temperament 

If  we  may  believe  caricaturists,  the  fleshiness  and 
obesity  of  many  English  men  and  women  in  the  earlier 
years  of  this  century  must  have  been  prodigious.  It 
testifies  to  the  grosser  conditions  of  life  in  those  days. 
and  makes  it  improbable  that  the  types  best  adapted 
to  prevail  then  would  be  the  best  adapted  to  prevail 
now. 

Composite  Portraiture. 

As  a  means  of  getting  over  the  difficulty  of  pro- 
curing really  representative  faces,  I  contrived  the 
method  of  composite  portraiture,  which  has  been  ex- 
plained of  Late  on  many  occasions,  and  of  which  a  full 
account  will  be  found  in  Appendix  B.  The  principle 
on  which  the  composites  are  made  will  best  be  under- 
stood by  a  description  of  my  earlier  and  now  discarded 
method;  it  was  this — (l)  I  collected  photographic- 
portraits  of  different  persons,  all  of  whom  had  been 
photographed  in  the  same  aspect  (say  full  face),  and 
under  the  same  conditions  of  light  and  shade  (say  with 
the  light  coming  from  the  right  side).  (2)  I  reduced 
their  portraits  photographically  to  the  same  size,  being 
guided  as  to  scale  by  the  distance  between  any  two 
convenient  points  of  reference  in  the  features;  for  ex- 
ample, by  the  vertical  distance  between  two  parallel 


COMPOSITE    PORTRAITURE.  9 

lines,  one  of  which  passed  through  the  middle  of  the 
pupils  of  the  eyes  and  the  other  between  the  lips.  (3)  I 
superimposed  the  portraits  like  the  successive  leaves 
of  a  book,  so  that  the  features  of  each  portrait  lay  as 
exactly  as  the  case  admitted,  in  front  of  those  of  the 
one  behind  it,  eye  in  front  of  eye  and  mouth  in  front 
of  mouth.  This  I  did  by  holding  them  successively 
to  the  light  and  adjusting  them,  then  by  fastening 
each  to  the  preceding  one  with  a  strip  of  gummed 
paper  along  one  of  the  edges.  Thus  I  obtained  a 
book,  each  page  of  which  contained  a  separate  portrait, 
and  all  the  portraits  lay  exactly  in  front  of  one  another. 

(4)  I  fastened  the  book  against  the  wall  in  such  a 
way  that  I  could  turn  over  the  pages  in  succession, 
leaving  in  turn  each  portrait  flat  and  fully  exposed. 

(5)  I  focused  my  camera  on  the  book,  fixed  it 
firmly,  and  put  a  sensitive  plate  inside  it.  (6)  I 
began  photographing,  taking  one  page  after  the  other 
in  succession  without  moving  the  camera,  but  putting 
on  the  cap  whilst  I  was  turning  over  the  pages,  so 
that  an  image  of  each  of  the  portraits  in  succession 
was  thrown  on  the  same  part  of  the  sensitised  plate. 

Only  a  fraction  of  the  exposure  required  to  make 
a  good  picture  was  allowed  to  each  portrait.  Suppose 
that  period  was  twenty  seconds,  and  that  there  were 
ten  portraits,  then  an  exposure  of  two  seconds  would 
be  allowed  for  each  portrait,  making  twenty  seconds 
in  all.  This  is  the  principle  of  the  process,  the  details 
of  that  which  I  now  use  are  different  and  complex. 
They  are  fully  explained  in  the  Appendix  for  the 
use  of  those  who  may  care  to  know  about  them. 


10  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

The  effect  of  composite  portraiture  is  to  bring  into 
evidence  all  the  traits  in  which  there  is  agreement, 
and  to  leave  but  a  ghost  of  a  trace  of  individual 
peculiarities.  There  are  so  many  traits  in  common  in 
all  faces  that  the  composite  picture  when  made  from 
many  components  is  far  from  being  a  blur ;  it  has 
altogether  the  look  of  an  ideal  composition. 

It  may  be  worth  mentioning  that  when  I  take 
any  small  bundle  of  portraits,  selected  at  hazard,  I 
have  generally  found  it  easy  to  sort  them  into  about 
five  groups,  four  of  which  have  enough  resemblance 
among  themselves  to  make  as  many  fairly  clear 
composites,  while  the  fifth  consists  of  faces  that  are 
too  incongruous  to  be  grouped  in  a  single  class.  In 
dealing  with  portaits  of  brothers  and  sisters,  I  can 
generally  throw  most  of  them  into  a  single  group, 
with  success. 

In  the  small  collection  of  composites  given  on  the 
frontispiece,  I  have  purposely  selected  many  of  those 
that  I  have  previously  published,  and  whose  originals, 
on  a  larger  scale,  I  have  at  various  times  exhibited, 
together  with  their  components,  in  order  to  put  the 
genuineness  of  the  results  beyond  doubt.  Those  who 
see  them  for  the  first  time  can  hardly  believe  but 
that  one  dominant  face  has  overpowered  the  rest,  and 
that  they  are  composites  only  in  name.  When,  how- 
ever, the  details  are  examined,  this  objection  dis- 
appears. It  is  true  that  with  careless  photography 
one  face  may  be  allowed  to  dominate,  but  with  the 
care  that  ought  to  be  taken,  and  with  the  precautions 
described  in  the  Appendix,  that  does  not  occur.     I 


DESCRIPTION   OF   THE   COMPOSITES.  11 

have  often  been  amused  when  showing  composites 
and  their  components  to  friends,  to  hear  a  strong 
expression  of  opinion  that  the  predominance  of  one 
face  was  evident,  and  then  on  asking  which  face  it 
was,  to  discover  that  they  disagreed.  I  have  even 
known  a  composite  in  which  one  portrait  seemed 
unduly  to  prevail,  to  be  remade  without  the  com- 
ponent in  question,  and  the  result  to  be  much  the 
same  as  before,  showing  that  the  reason  of  the  re- 
semblance was  that  the  rejected  portrait  had  a  close 
approximation  to  the  ideal  average  picture  of  the 
rest. 

These  small  composites  give  a  better  notion  of 
the  utmost  capacity  of  the  process  than  the  larger 
ones,  from  which  they  are  reduced.  In  the  latter, 
the  ghosts  of  individual  peculiarities  are  more  visible, 
and  usually  the  equal  traces  left  by  every  member  of 
a  moderately-sized  group  can  be  made  out  by  careful 
inspection ;  but  it  is  hardly  possible  to  do  this  in  the 
pictures  in  the  Plate,  except  in  a  good  light  and  in  a 
very  few  of  the  cases.  On  the  other  hand,  the  larger 
pictures  do  not  contain  more  detail  of  value  than  the 
smaller  ones. 


Description  of  the  Composites. 

The  medallion  of  Alexander  the  Great  was  made 
by  combining  the  images  of  six  different  medals,  with 
a  view  of  obtaining  the  type  of  features  that  the 
makers   of   those   medals   concurred   in   desiring   to 


12  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

ascribe  to  liim.  The  originals  were  kindly  selected 
for  me  by  Mr.  E.  Stuart  Poole  from  the  collection  in 
the  British  Museum.  This  composite  was  one  of  the 
first  I  ever  made,  and  is  printed  together  with  its  six 
components  in  the  Journal  of  the  Royal  Institution, 
in  illustration  of  a  lecture  I  gave  there  in  April  1879. 
It  seems  to  me  that  it  is  possible  on  this  principle 
to  obtain  a  truer  likeness  of  a  man  than  in  any 
other  way.  Every  artist  makes  mistakes ;  but  by 
combining  the  conscientious  works  of  many  artists, 
their  separate  mistakes  disappear,  and  what  is  com- 
mon to  all  of  their  works  remains.  So  as  regards 
different  photographs  of  the  same  person,  those  acci- 
dental momentary  expressions  are  got  rid  of,  which 
an  ordinary  photograph  made  by  a  brief  exposure 
cannot  help  recording.  On  the  other  hand,  any 
happy  sudden  trait  of  expression  is  lost.  The  com- 
posite gives  the  features  in  repose. 

The  next  pair  of  composites  (full  face  and  profile) 
on  the  Plate  has  not  been  published  before.  The 
interest  of  the  pair  lies  chiefly  in  their  having  been 
made  from  only  two  components,  and  they  show  how 
curiously  even  two  faces  that  have  a  moderate  family 
likeness  will  blend  into  a  single  one.  That  neither  of 
these  predominated  in  the  present  case  will  be  learned 
from  the  following  letter  by  the  father  of  the  ladies, 
who  is  himself  a  photographer  : — 

"  I  am  exceedingly  obliged  for  the  very  curious  and  interest- 
ing composite  portraits  of  my  two  children.  Knowing  the  faces 
so  well,  it  caused  me  quite  a  surprise  when  I  opened  your  letter. 
I  put  one  of  the  full  faces  on  the  table  for  the  mother  to  pick  up 


DESCRIPTION   OF   THE   COMPOSITES.  13 

casually.  She  said,  '  When  did  you  do  this  portrait  of  A 1  how 
like  she  is  to  B  !  Or  is  it  B  1  I  never  thought  they  were  so  like 
before.'  It  has  puzzled  several  people  to  say  whether  the  pro- 
file was  intended  for  A  or  B.  Then  I  tried  one  of  them  on  a 
friend  who  has  not  seen  the  girls  for  years.  He  said,  '  Well,  it 
is  one  of  the  family  for  certain,  but  I  don't  know  which.'" 

I  have  made  several  other  family  portraits,  which 
to  my  eye  seem  great  successes,  but  must  candidly 
own  that  the  persons  whose  portraits  are  blended 
together  seldom  seem  to  care  much  for  the  result, 
except  as  a  curiosity.  We  are  all  inclined  to  assert 
our  individuality,  and  to  stand  on  our  own  basis,  and 
to  object  to  being  mixed  up  indiscriminately  with 
others.  The  same  feeling  finds  expression  when  the 
resident  in  a  suburban  street  insists  on  calling  his 
house  a  villa  with  some  fantastic  name,  and  refuses, 
so  long  as  he  can,  to  call  it  simply  Number  so  and  so 
in  the  street. 

The  last  picture  in  the  upper  row  shows  the  easy 
way  in  which  young  and  old,  male  and  female,  com- 
bine to  form  an  effective  picture.  The  components 
consist  in  this  case  of  the  father  and  mother,  two 
sons,  and  two  daughters.  I  exhibited  the  original  of 
this,  together  with  the  portraits  from  which  it  was 
taken,  at  the  Loan  Photographic  Exhibition  at  the 
Society  of  Arts  in  February  1882.  I  also  sent  copies 
of  the  original  of  this  same  composite  to  several 
amateur  photographers,  with  a  circular  letter  asking 
them  to  get  from  me  family  groups  for  the  purpose  of 
experiments,  to  see  how  far  the  process  was  suitable 
for  family  portraiture. 


14  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

The  middle  row  of  portraits  illustrates  health, 
disease,  and  criminality.  For  health,  I  have  combined 
the  portraits  of  twelve  officers  of  the  Koyal  Engineers 
with  about  an  equal  number  of  privates,  which  were 
taken  for  me  by  Lieutenant  Darwin,  R.E.  The 
individuals  from  whom  this  composite  was  made, 
which  has  not  come  out  as  clearly  as  I  should  have 
liked,  differed  considerably  in  feature,  and  they  came 
from  various  parts  of  England.  The  points  they  had 
in  common  were  the  bodily  and  mental  qualifications 
required  for  admission  into  their  select  corps,  and 
their  generally  British  descent.  The  result  is  a  com- 
posite having  an  expression  of  considerable  vigour, 
resolution,  intelligence,  and  frankness.  I  have  ex- 
hibited both  this  and  others  that  were  made  respect- 
ively from  the  officers,  from  the  whole  collection  of 
privates — thirty-six  in  number — and  from  that  selected 
portion  of  them  that  is  utilised  in  the  present 
instance. 

This  face  and  the  qualities  it  connotes  probably 
gives  a  clue  to  the  direction  in  which  the  stock  of  the 
English  race  might  most  easily  be  improved.  It  is 
the  essential  notion  of  a  race  that  there  should  be 
some  ideal  typical  form  from  which  the  individuals 
may  deviate  in  all  directions,  but  about  which  they 
chiefly  cluster,  and  towards  which  their  descendants 
will  continue  to  cluster.  The  easiest  direction  in 
which  a  race  can  be  improved  is  towards  that  central 
type,  because  nothing  new  has  to  be  sought  out.  It 
is  only  necessary  to  encourage  as  far  as  practicable 
the  breed  of  those  who  conform  most  nearly  to  the 


DESCRIPTION    OF   THE    COMPOSITES.  15 

central  type,  and  to  restrain  as  far  as  may  be  the 
breed  of  those  who  deviate  widely  from  it.  Now 
there  can  hardly  be  a  more  appropriate  method  of 
discovering  the  central  physiognomical  type  of  any 
race  or  group  than  that  of  composite  portraiture. 

As  a  contrast  to  the  composite  of  the  Eoyal 
Engineers,  I  give  those  of  two  of  the  coarse  and  low 
types  of  face  found  among  the  criminal  classes.  The 
photographs  from  which  they  were  made  are  taken 
from  two  large  groups.  One  are  those  of  men  under- 
going severe  sentences  for  murder  and  other  crimes 
connected  with  violence  ;  the  other  of  thieves.  They 
were  reprints  from  those  taken  by  order  of  the  prison 
authorities  for  purposes  of  identification.  I  was 
allowed  to  obtain  copies  for  use  in  my  inquiries  by 
the  kind  permission  of  Sir  Edmund  Du  Cane,  H.M. 
Director  of  Prisons.  The  originals  of  these  and  their 
components  have  frequently  been  exhibited.  It  is 
unhappily  a  fact  that  fairly  distinct  types  of  criminals 
breeding  true  to  their  kind  have  become  established, 
and  are  one  of  the  saddest  disfigurements  of  modern 
civilisation.     To  this  subject  I  shall  recur. 

I  have  made  numerous  composites  of  various 
groups  of  convicts,  which  are  interesting  negatively 
rather  than  positively.  They  produce  faces  of  a 
mean  description,  with  no  villainy  written  on  them. 
The  individual  faces  are  villainous  enough,  but  they 
are  villainous  in  different  ways,  and  when  they  are 
combined,  the  individual  peculiarities  disappear,  and 
the  common  humanity  of  a  low  type  is  all  that  is 
left. 


16  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

The  remaining  portraits  are  illustrations  of  the 
application  of  the  process  to  the  study  of  the  physi- 
ognomy of  disease.  They  were  published  a  year  ago 
with  many  others,  together  with  several  of  the  por- 
traits from  which  they  were  derived,  in  a  joint  memoir 
by  Dr.  Mahomed  and  myself,  in  vol.  xxv.  of  the 
Guys  Hospital  Reports.  The  originals  and  all  the 
components  have  been  exhibited  on  several  occasions. 

In  the  lower  division  of  the  Plate  will  be  found 
three  composites,  each  made  from  a  large  number  of 
faces,  unselected,  except  on  the  ground  of  the  disease 
under  which  they  were  suffering.  When  only  few 
portraits  are  used,  there  must  be  some  moderate 
resemblance  between  them,  or  the  result  would  be 
blurred ;  but  here,  dealing  with  as  many  as  56,  100, 
and  50  cases  respectively,  the  combination  of  any 
medley  group  results  in  an  ideal  expression. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  composite  of  56 
female  faces  is  made  by  the  blending  of  two  other 
composites,  both  of  which  are  given.  The  history 
was  this — I  took  the  56  portraits  and  sorted  them 
into  two  groups ;  in  the  first  of  these  were  20  por- 
traits that  showed  a  tendency  to  thin  features,  in  the 
other  group  there  were  36  that  showed  a  tendency  to 
thickened  features.  I  made  composites  of  each  of 
them  as  shown  in  the  Plate.  Now  it  will  be  re- 
marked that,  notwithstanding  the  attempt  to  make 
two  contrasted  groups,  the  number  of  mediocre  cases 
was  so  great  that  the  composites  of  the  two  groups 
are  much  alike.  If  I  had  divided  the  56  into  two 
haphazard  groups,  the  results  would  have  been  closely 


DESCRIPTION    OF    THE    COMPOSITES.  17 

alike,  as  I  know  from  abundant  experience  of  the 
kind.  The  co-composite  of  the  two  will  be  observed 
to  have  an  intermediate  expression.  The  test  and 
measure  of  statistical  truth  lies  in  the  degree  of 
accordance  between  results  obtained  from  different 
batches  of  instances  of  the  same  generic  class.  It 
will  be  gathered  from  these  instances  that  composite 
portraiture  may  attain  statistical  constancy,  within 
limits  not  easily  distinguished  by  the  eye,  after  some 
30  haphazard  portraits  of  the  same  class  have  been 
combined.  This  at  least  has  been  my  experience 
thus  far. 

The  two  faces  illustrative  of  the  same  type  of 
tubercular  disease  are  very  striking ;  the  uppermost 
is  photographically  interesting  as  a  case  of  predomi- 
nance of  one  peculiarity,  happily  of  no  harm  to  the 
effect  of  the  ideal  wan  face.  It  is  that  one  of  the 
patients  had  a  sharply-checked  black  and  white  scarf, 
whose  pattern  has  asserted  itself  unduly  in  the  com- 
posite. In  such  cases  I  ought  to  throw  the  too  clearly 
defined  picture  a  little  out  of  focus.  The  way  in 
which  the  varying  brightness  of  different  pictures  is 
reduced  to  a  uniform  standard  of  illumination  is  de- 
scribed in  the  Appendix. 

It  must  be  clearly  understood  that  these  portraits 
do  not  profess  to  give  the  whole  story  of  the  physi- 
ognomy of  phthisis.  I  have  not  room  to  give  illus- 
trations of  other  types — namely,  that  with  coarse  and 
blunted  features,  or  the  strumous  one,  nor  any  of  the 
intermediates.  These  have  been  discussed  chiefly  by 
Dr.  Mahomed  in  the  memoir  alluded  to  above. 


18  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

In  the  large  experience  I  have  had  of  sorting 
photographs,  literally  by  the  thousand,  while  making 
experiments  with  composites,  I  have  been  struck  by  cer- 
tain general  impressions.  The  consumptive  patients 
consisted  of  many  hundred  cases,  including  a  consider- 
able proportion  of  very  ignoble  specimens  of  humanity. 
Some  were  scrofulous  and  misshapen,  or  suffered  from 
various  loathsome  forms  of  inherited  disease;  most  were 
ill  nourished.  Nevertheless,  in  studying  their  portraits 
the  pathetic  interest  prevailed,  and  I  returned  day 
after  day  to  my  tedious  work  of  classification,  with  a 
liking  for  my  materials.  It  was  quite  otherwise  with 
the  criminals.  I  did  not  adequately  appreciate  the 
degradation  of  their  expressions  for  some  time ;  at 
last  the  sense  of  it  took  firm  hold  of  me,  and  I  cannot 
now  handle  the  portraits  without  overcoming  by  an 
effort  the  aversion  they  suggest. 

I  am  sure  that  the  method  of  composite  portraiture 
opens  a  fertile  field  of  research  to  ethnologists,  but 
I  find  it  very  difficult  to  do  much  single-handed,  on 
account  of  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  the  necessary 
materials.  As  a  rule,  the  individuals  must  be  specially 
photographed.  The  portraits  made  by  artists  are 
taken  in  every  conceivable  aspect  and  variety  of  light 
and  shade,  but  for  the  purpose  in  question  the  aspect 
and  the  shade  must  be  the  same  throughout.  Group 
portraits  would  do  to  work  from,  were  it  not  for  the 
strong  out-of-door  light  under  which  they  are  neces- 
sarily taken,  which  gives  an  unwonted  effect  to  the 
expression  of  the  faces.     Their  scale  also  is  too  small 


BODILY    QUALITIES.  19 

to  give  a  sufficiently  clear  picture  when  enlarged. 
I  may  say  that  the  scale  of  the  portraits  need  not 
be  uniform,  as  my  apparatus  enlarges  or  reduces  as 
required,  at  the  same  time  that  it  superposes  the 
images ;  but  the  portraits  of  the  heads  should  never 
be  less  than  twice  the  size  of  that  of  the  Queen  on  a 
halfpenny  piece. 

I  heartily  wish  that  amateur  photographers  would 
seriously  take  up  the  subject  of  composite  portraiture 
as  applied  to  different  sub-types  of  the  varying  races 
of  men.  I  have  already  given  more  time  to  perfecting 
the  process  and  experimenting  with  it  than  I  can  well 
spare. 

Bodily  Qualities. 

The  differences  in  the  bodily  qualities  that  are 
the  usual  subjects  of  anthropometry  are  easily  dealt 
with,  and  are  becoming  widely  registered  in  many 
countries.  We  are  unfortunately  destitute  of  trust- 
worthy measurements  of  Englishmen  of  past  genera- 
tions to  enable  us  to  compare  class  with  class,  and  to 
learn  how  far  the  several  sections  of  the  Eno-lish  nation 
may  be  improving  or  deteriorating.  We  shall,  how- 
ever, hand  useful  information  concerning  our  own 
times  to  our  successors,  thanks  principally  to  the 
exertions  of  an  Anthropometric  Committee  established 
five  years  ago  by  the  British  Association,  who  have 
collected  and  partly  classified  and  published  a  large 
amount  of  facts,  besides  having  induced  several  insti- 
tutions, such  as  Marlborough  College,  to  undertake  a 


20  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

regular  system  of  anthropometric  record.  I  am  not, 
however,  concerned  here  with  the  labours  of  this 
committee,  nor  with  the  separate  valuable  publications 
of  some  of  its  members,  otherwise  than  in  one  small 
particular  which  appears  to  show  that  the  English 
population  as  a  whole,  or  perhaps  I  should  say  the 
urban  portion  of  it,  is  in  some  sense  deteriorating. 
It  is  that  the  average  stature  of  the  older  persons 
measured  by  or  for  the  committee  has  not  been  found 
to  decrease  steadily  with  their  age,  but  sometimes 
the  reverse.1  This  contradicts  observations  made  on 
the  heights  of  the  same  men  at  different  periods, 
whose  stature  after  middle  age  is  invariably  reduced 
by  the  shrinking  of  the  cartilages.  The  explanation 
offered  was  that  the  statistical  increase  of  stature 
with  age  should  be  ascribed  to  the  survival  of  the 
more  stalwart.  On  reconsideration,  I  am  inclined  to 
doubt  the  adequacy  of  the  explanation,  and  partly  to 
account  for  the  fact  by  a  steady,  slight  deterioration 
of  stature  in  successive  years ;  in  the  urban  popula- 
tion owing  to  the  conditions  of  their  lives,  and  in  the 
rural  population  owing  to  the  continual  draining 
away  of  the  more  stalwart  of  them  to  the  towns. 

It  cannot  be  doubted  that  town  life  is  harmful  to 
the  town  population.  I  have  myself  investigated  its 
effect  on  fertility  (see  Appendix  C),  and  found  that 
taking  on  the  one  hand  a  number  of  rural  parishes, 
and  on  the  other  hand  the  inhabitants  of  a  medium 
town,  the  former  reared  nearly  twice  as  many  adult 

1   Trans.  Brit.  Assoc,  1881,  Table  V.,  p.  242  ;    and   remarks   by 
Mr.  Roberts,  p.  235. 


BODILY    QUALITIES.  21 

grandchildren  as  the  latter.  The  vital  functions  are 
so  closely  related  that  an  inferiority  in  the  production 
of  healthy  children  very  probably  implies  a  loss  of 
vigour  generally,  one  sign  of  which  is  a  diminution  of 
stature. 

Though  the  bulk  of  the  population  may  deteriorate, 
there  are  many  signs  that  the  better  housed  and  fed 
portion  of  it  improves.  In  the  earlier  years  of  this 
century  the  so-called  manly  sports  of  boxing  and  other 
feats  of  strength  ranked  high  among  the  national 
amusements.  A  man  who  was  successful  in  these 
became  the  hero  of  a  large  and  demonstrative  circle  of 
admirers,  and  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  the  best  boxer, 
the  best  pedestrian,  and  so  forth,  was  the  best  adapted 
to  succeed,  through  his  natural  physical  gifts.  If  he 
was  not  the  most  gifted  man  in  those  respects  in 
the  whole  kingdom,  he  was  certainly  one  of  the  most 
gifted  of  them.  It  therefore  does  no  injustice  to  the 
men  of  that  generation  to  compare  the  feats  of  their 
foremost  athletes  with  those  of  ours  who  occupy  them- 
selves in  the  same  way.  The  comparison  would  prob- 
ably err  in  their  favour,  because  the  interest  in  the 
particular  feats  in  which  our  grandfathers  and  great- 
grandfathers delighted  are  not  those  that  chiefly  interest 
the  present  generation,  and  notwithstanding  our  in- 
creased population,  there  are  fewer  men  now  who 
attempt  them.  In  the  beginning  of  this  century  there 
were  many  famous  walking  matches,  and  incomparably 
the  best  walker  was  Captain  Barclay  of  Ury.  His 
paramount  feat,  which  was  once  very  familiar  to  the 
elderly  men  of  the  present  time,  was  that  of  walking 


22  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

a  thousand  miles  in  a  thousand  hours,  but  of  late 
years  that  feat  has  been  frequently  equalled  and  over- 
passed. I  am  willing  to  allow  much  influence  to  the 
modern  conditions  of  walking  under  shelter  and  sub- 
ject to  improved  methods  of  training  (Captain  Barclay 
himself  originated  the  first  method,  which  has  been 
greatly  improved  since  his  time) ;  still  the  fact  remains 
that  in  executing  this  particular  feat,  the  athletes  of 
the  present  day  are  more  successful  than  those  who 
lived  some  eighty  years  ago. 

I  may  be  permitted  to  give  an  example  bearing  on 
the  increased  stature  of  the  better  housed  and  fed 
portion  of  the  nation,  in  a  recollection  of  my  own  as 
to  the  difference  in  height  between  myself  and  my 
fellow  -  collegians  at  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  in 
1840-4.  My  height  is  5  feet  9f  inches,  and  I  recollect 
perfectly  that  among  the  crowd  of  undergraduates  I 
stood  somewhat  taller  than  the  majority.  I  generally 
looked  a  little  downward  when  I  met  their  eyes.  In 
later  years,  whenever  I  have  visited  Cambridge,  I 
have  lingered  in  the  ante-chapel  and  repeated  the 
comparison,  and  now  I  find  myself  decidedly  shorter 
than  the  average  of  the  students.  I  have  precisely 
the  same  kind  of  recollection  and  the  same  present 
experience  of  the  height  of  crowTds  of  well-dressed 
persons.  I  used  always  to  get  a  fair  view  of  what 
was  going  on  over  or  between  their  heads ;  I  rarely 
can  do  so  now. 

The  athletic  achievements  at  school  and  college 
are  much  superior  to  what  they  used  to  be.  Part  is 
no  doubt  due  to  more  skilful  methods  of  execution, 


BODILY    QUALITIES.  23 

but  not  all.  I  cannot  doubt  that  the  more  wholesome 
and  abundant  food,  the  moderation  in  drink,  the 
better  cooking,  the  warmer  wearing  apparel,  the  airier 
sleeping  rooms,  the  greater  cleanliness,  the  more  com- 
plete change  in  holidays,  and  the  healthier  lives  led 
by  the  women  in  their  girlhood,  who  become  mothers 
afterwards,  have  a  great  influence  for  good  on  the 
favoured  portion  of  our  race. 

The  proportion  of  weakly  and  misshapen  indi- 
viduals is  not  to  be  estimated  by  those  whom  we  meet 
in  the  streets  ;  the  worst  cases  are  out  of  sight.  We 
should  parade  before  our  mind's  eye  the  inmates  of 
the  lunatic,  idiot,  and  pauper  asylums,  the  prisoners, 
the  patients  in  hospitals,  the  sufferers  at  home,  the 
crippled,  and  the  congenitally  blind,  and  that  large 
class  of  more  or  less  wealthy  persons  who  flee  to  the 
sunnier  coasts  of  England,  or  expatriate  themselves 
for  the  chance  of  life.  There  can  hardly  be  a  sadder 
sight  than  the  crowd  of  delicate  English  men  and 
women  with  narrow  chests  and  weak  chins,  scrofulous, 
and  otherwise  gravely  affected,  who  are  to  be  found 
in  some  of  these  places.  Even  this  does  not  tell  the 
whole  of  the  story ;  if  there  were  a  conscription  in 
England,  we  should  find,  as  in  other  countries,  that  a 
large  fraction  of  the  men  who  earn  their  living  by 
sedentary  occupations  are  unfit  for  military  service. 
Our  human  civilised  stock  is  far  more  weakly  through 
congenital  imperfection  than  that  of  any  other  species 
of  animals,  whether  wild  or  domestic. 

It  is,  however,  by  no  means  the  most  shapely  or 


24  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN   FACULTY. 

the  biggest  personages  who  endure  hardship  the  best. 
Some  very  shabby-looking  men  have  extraordinary 
stamina.  Sickly-looking  and  puny  residents  in  towns 
may  have  a  more  suitable  constitution  for  the  special 
conditions  of  their  lives,  and  may  in  some  sense 
be  better  knit  and  do  more  work  and  live  longer 
than  much  haler  men  imported  to  the  same  locality 
from  elsewhere.  A  wheel  and  a  barrel  seem  to 
have  the  flimsiest  possible  constitutions ;  they  con- 
sist of  numerous  separate  pieces  all  oddly  shaped, 
which,  when  lying  in  a  heap,  look  hojjelessly  un- 
fitted for  union  ;  but  j>ut  them  properly  together, 
compress  them  with  a  tire  in  the  one  case  and  with 
hoops  in  the  other,  and  a  remarkably  enduring  organ- 
isation will  result.  A  wheel  with  a  ton  weight  on  the 
top  of  it  in  the  waggons  of  South  Africa  will  jolt  for 
thousands  of  miles  over  stony,  roadless  country  with- 
out suffering  harm  ;  a  keg  of  water  may  be  strapped 
on  the  back  of  a  pack-ox  or  a  mule,  and  be  kicked 
off  and  trampled  on,  and  be  otherwise  misused  for 
years,  without  giving  way. 

I  do  not  propose  to  enter  further  into  the  anthro- 
pometric differences  of  race,  for  the  subject  is  a  very 
large  one,  and  this  book  does  not  profess  to  go  into 
detail.  Its  intention  is  to  touch  on  various  topics 
more  or  less  connected  with  that  of  the  cultivation 
of  race,  or,  as  we  might  call  it,  with  "  eugenic"1  ques- 

1  That  is,  with  questions  hearing  on  what  is  termed  in  Greek, 
eugenes,  namely,  good  in  stock,  hereditarily  endowed  with  nohle 
qualities.     This,  and  the  allied  words,  eugeneia,  etc.,  are  equally  appli- 


ENERGY.  25 

tions,  and  to  present  the  results  of  several  of  my  own 
separate  investigations. 

Energy. 

Energy  is  the  capacity  for  labour.  It  is  consistent 
with  all  the  robust  virtues,  and  makes  a  large  practice 
of  them  possible.  It  is  the  measure  of  fulness  of 
life  ;  the  more  energy  the  more  abundance  of  it ;  no 
energy  at  all  is  death  ;  idiots  are  feeble  and  listless. 
In  the  inquiries  I  made  on  the  antecedents  of  men  of 
science  no  points  came  out  more  strongly  than  that 
the  leaders  of  scientific  thought  were  generally  gifted 
with  remarkable  energy,  and  that  they  had  inherited 
the  gift  of  it  from  their  parents  and  grandparents. 
I  have  since  found  the  same  to  be  the  case  in  other 
careers. 

Energy  is  an  attribute  of  the  higher  races,  being 
favoured  beyond  all  other  qualities  by  natural  selec- 
tion. We  are  goaded  into  activity  by  the  conditions 
and  struggles  of  life.  They  afford  stimuli  that  oppress 
and  worry  the  weakly,  who  complain  and  bewail,  and 
it  may  be  succumb  to  them,  but  which  the  energetic 

cable  to  men,  brutes,  and  plants.  We  greatly  want  a  brief  word  to 
express  tbe  science  of  improving  stock,  wbich  is  by  no  means  confined 
to  questions  of  judicious  mating,  but  which,  especially  in  tbe  case  of 
man,  takes  cognisance  of  all  influences  that  tend  in  however  remote  a 
degree  to  give  to  the  more  suitable  races  or  strains  of  blood  a  better 
chance  of  prevailing  speedily  over  the  less  suitable  than  they  otherwise 
would  have  had.  The  word  eugenics  would  sufficiently  express  the 
idea  ;  it  is  at  least  a  neater  word  and  a  more  generalised  one  than 
viriculture,  which  I  once  ventured  to  use. 


26  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

man  welcomes  with  a  good-humoured  shrug,  and  is 
the  better  for  in  the  end. 

The  stimuli  may  be  of  an}'  description  :  the  only 
important  matter  is  that  all  the  faculties  should  be 
kept  working  to  prevent  their  perishing  by  disuse. 
If  the  faculties  are  few,  very  simple  stimuli  will 
suffice.  Even  that  of  fleas  will  go  a  long  way.  A 
dog  is  continually  scratching  himself,  and  a  bird 
pluming  itself,  whenever  they  are  not  occupied  with 
food,  hunting,  fighting,  or  love.  In  those  blank  times 
there  is  very  little  for  them  to  attend  to  besides  their 
varied  cutaneous  irritations.  It  is  a  matter  of  obser- 
vation that  well  washed  and  combed  domestic  pets 
grow  dull ;  they  miss  the  stimulus  of  fleas.  If  animals 
did  not  prosper  through  the  agency  of  their  insect 
plagues,  it  seems  probable  that  their  races  would 
lonor  since  have  been  so  modified  that  their  bodies 
should  have  ceased  to  afford  a  pasture-ground  for 
parasites. 

It  does  not  seem  to  follow  that  because  men  are 
capable  of  doing  hard  work  they  like  it,  Some,  in- 
deed, fidget  and  fret  if  they  cannot  otherwise  work  off 
their  superfluous  steam ;  but  on  the  other  hand  there 
are  many  big  lazy  fellows  who  will  not  get  up  their 
steam  to  full  pressure  except  under  compulsion. 
A orain,  the  character  of  the  stimulus  that  induces  hard 
work  differs  greatly  in  different  persons ;  it  may  be 
wealth,  ambition,  or  other  object  of  passion.  The 
solitary  hard  workers,  under  no  encouragement  or 
compulsion  except  their  sense  of  duty  to  their  genera- 
tion, are  unfortunately  still  rare  among  us. 


SENSITIVITY.  27 

It  may  be  objected  that  if  the  race  were  too 
healthy  and  energetic  there  would  be  insufficient 
call  for  the  exercise  of  the  pitying  and  self-denying 
virtues,  and  the  character  of  men  would  grow  harder 
in  consequence.  But  it  does  not  seem  reasonable  to 
preserve  sickly  breeds  for  the  sole  purpose  of  tending 
them,  as  the  breed  of  foxes  is  preserved  solely  for 
sport  and  its  attendant  advantages.  There  is  little 
fear  that  misery  will  ever  cease  from  the  land,  or  that 
the  compassionate  will  fail  to  find  objects  for  their 
compassion ;  but  at  present  the  supply  vastly  ex- 
ceeds the  demand :  the  land  is  overstocked  and 
overburdened  with  the  listless  and  the  incapable. 

In  any  scheme  of  eugenics,  energy  is  the  most  im- 
portant quality  to  favour ;  it  is,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
basis  of  living  action,  and  it  is  eminently  transmissible 
by  descent. 

Sensitivity. 

The  only  information  that  reaches  us  concerning 
outward  events  appears  to  pass  through  the  avenue  of 
our  senses ;  and  the  more  perceptive  the  senses  are 
of  difference,  the  larger  is  the  field  upon  which  our 
judgment  and  intelligence  can  act.  Sensation  mounts 
through  a  series  of  grades  of  "just  perceptible  differ- 
ences." It  starts  from  the  zero  of  consciousness,  and 
it  becomes  more  intense  as  the  stimulus  increases 
(though  at  a  slower  rate)  up  to  the  point  when  the 
stimulus  is  so  strong  as  to  begin  to  damage  the  nerve 
apparatus.     It  then  yields  place   to  pain,   which   is 


28  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

another  form  of  sensation,  and  which  continues  until 
the  nerve  apparatus  is  destroyed.  Two  persons  may 
be  equally  able  just  to  hear  the  same  faint  sound,  and 
they  may  equally  begin  to  be  pained  by  the  same 
loud  sound,  and  yet  they  may  differ  as  to  the  number 
of  intermediate  grades  of  sensation.  The  grades  will 
be  less  numerous  as  the  organisation  is  of  a  lower 
order,  and  the  keenest  sensation  possible  to  it  will  in 
consequence  be  less  intense.  An  artist  who  is  capable 
of  discriminating  more  differences  of  tint  than  another 
man  is  not  necessarily  more  capable  of  seeing  clearly 
in  twilight,  or  more  or  less  intolerant  of  sunshine.  A 
musician  is  not  necessarily  able  to  hear  very  faint 
sounds,  nor  to  be  more  startled  by  loud  sounds  than 
others  are.  A  mechanic  who  works  hard  with  heavy 
tools  and  has  rough  and  grimy  thumbs,  insensible  to 
very  slight  pressures,  may  yet  have  a  singularly  dis- 
criminating power  of  touch  in  respect  to  the  pressures 
that  he  can  feel. 

The  discriminative  faculty  of  idiots  is  curiously 
low ;  they  hardly  distinguish  between  heat  and  cold, 
and  their  sense  of  pain  is  so  obtuse  that  some  of  the 
more  idiotic  seem  hardly  to  know  what  it  is.  In 
their  dull  lives,  such  pain  as  can  be  excited  in  them 
may  literally  be  accepted  with  a  welcome  surprise. 
During  a  visit  to  Earlswood  Asylum  I  saw  two  boys 
whose  toe-nails  had  grown  into  the  flesh  and  had 
been  excised  by  the  surgeon.  This  is  a  horrible 
torture  to  ordinary  persons,  but  the  idiot  lads  were 
said  to  have  shown  no  distress  during  the  operation; 
it  was  not  necessary  to  hold  them,  and  they  looked 


SENSITIVITY.  29 

rather  interested  at  what  was  being  done.1  I  also 
saw  a  boy  with  the  scar  of  a  severe  wound  on  his 
wrist ;  the  story  being  that  he  had  first  burned 
himself  slightly  by  accident,  and,  liking  the  keenness 
of  the  new  sensation,  he  took  the  next  opportunity 
of  repeating  the  experience,  but,  idiot-like,  he  over- 
did it. 

The  trials  I  have  as  yet  made  on  the  sensitivity  of 
different  persons  confirms  the  reasonable  expectation 
that  it  would  on  the  whole  be  highest  among  the 
intellectually  ablest.  At  first,  owing  to  my  confusing 
the  quality  of  which  I  am  speaking  with  that  of 
nervous  irritability,  I  fancied  that  women  of  delicate 
nerves  who  are  distressed  by  noise,  sunshine,  etc., 
would  have  acute  powers  of  discrimination.  But  this 
I  found  not  to  be  the  case.  In  morbidly  sensitive 
persons  both  pain  and  sensation  are  induced  by  lower 
stimuli  than  in  the  healthy,  but  the  number  of  just 
perceptible  grades  of  sensation  between  them  is  not 
necessarily  different. 

I  found  as  a  rule  that  men  have  more  delicate 
powers  of  discrimination  than  women,  and  the  busi- 
ness experience  of  life  seems  to  confirm  this  view. 
The  tuners  of  pianofortes  are  men,  and  so  I  under- 
stand are  the  tasters  of  tea  and  wine,  the  sorters  of 
wool,  and  the  like.  These  latter  occupations  are  well 
salaried,  because  it  is  of  the  first  moment  to  the 
merchant  that  he   should  be  rightly  advised  on  the 

1  See  Remarks  on  Idiocy,  by  E.  W.  Graham,  M.D.,  Medical 
Journal,  January  16,  1875. 


30  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN   FACULTY. 

real  value  of  what  he  is  about  to  purchase  or  to  sell. 
If  the  sensitivity  of  women  were  superior  to  that  of 
men,  the  self-interest  of  merchants  would  lead  to 
their  being  always  employed ;  but  as  the  reverse  is 
the  case,  the  opposite  supposition  is  likely  to  be  the 
true  one. 

Ladies  rarely  distinguish  the  merits  of  wine  at 
the  dinner-table,  and  though  custom  allows  them  to 
preside  at  the  breakfast-table,  men  think  them  on  the 
whole  to  be  far  from  successful  makers  of  tea  and  coffee. 

Blind  persons  are  reputed  to  have  acquired  in  com- 
pensation for  the  loss  of  their  eyesight  an  increased 
acuteness  in  their  other  senses;  I  was  therefore 
curious  to  make  some  trials  with  my  test  apparatus, 
which  I  will  describe  in  the  next  chapter.  I  was 
permitted  to  do  so  on  a  number  of  boys  at  a  large 
educational  blind  asylum,  but  found  that,  although 
they  were  anxious  to  do  their  best,  their  performances 
were  by  no  means  superior  to  those  of  other  boys. 
It  so  happened  that  the  blind  lads  who  showed  the 
most  delicacy  of  touch  and  won  the  little  prizes  I 
offered  to  excite  emulation,  barely  reached  the  medi- 
ocrity of  the  various  sighted  lads  of  the  same  age 
whom  I  had  previously  tested.  I  have  made  not  a 
few  observations  and  inquiries,  and  find  that  the 
o-uidance  of  the  blind  depends  mainly  on  the  multi- 
tude of  collateral  indications  to  which  they  give  much 
heed,  and  not  in  their  superior  sensitivity  to  any  one 
of  them.  Those  who  see  do  not  care  for  so  many  of 
these   collateral  indications,  and  habitually  overlook 


SENSITIVITY.  3 1 

and  neglect  several  of  them.  I  am  convinced  also 
that  not  a  little  of  the  popular  belief  concerning  the 
sensitivity  of  the  blind  is  due  to  exaggerated  claims 
on  their  part  that  have  not  been  verified.  Two  in- 
stances of  this  have  fallen  within  my  own  experience, 
in  both  of  which  the  blind  persons  claimed  to  have 
the  power  of  judging  by  the  echo  of  their  voice  and 
by  certain  other  feelings,  the  one  when  they  were 
approaching  objects,  even  though  the  object  was  so 
small  as  a  handrail,  and  the  other  to  tell  how  far 
the  door  of  the  room  in  which  he  was  standing  was 
open.  I  used  all  the  persuasion  I  could  to  induce 
each  of  these  persons  to  allow  me  to  put  their  asser- 
tions to  the  test ;  but  it  was  of  no  use.  The  one 
made  excuses,  the  other  positively  refused.  They  had 
probably  the  same  tendency  that  others  would  have 
who  happened  to  be  defective  in  any  faculty  that 
their  comrades  possessed,  to  fight  bravely  against  their 
disadvantage,  and  at  the  same  time  to  be  betrayed 
into  some  overvaunting  of  their  capacities  in  other 
directions.  They  would  be  a  little  conscious  of  this, 
and  would  therefore  shrink  from  being  tested. 

The  power  of  reading  by  touch  is  not  so  very 
wonderful.  A  former  Lord  Chancellor  of  England, 
the  late  Lord  Hatherley,  when  he  was  advanced  in 
years,  lost  his  eyesight  for  some  time  owing  to  a 
cataract,  which  was  not  ripe  to  be  operated  on.  He 
assured  me  that  he  had  then  learned  and  practised 
reading  by  touch  very  rapidly.  This  fact  may  per- 
haps also  serve  as  additional  evidence  of  the  sensi- 
tivity of  able  men. 


32  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN   FACULTY. 

Notwithstanding  many  travellers'  tales,  I  have 
thus  far  been  unsuccessful  in  obtaining  satisfactory 
evidence  of  any  general  large  superiority  of  the  senses 
of  savages  over  those  of  civilised  men.  My  own 
experience,  so  far  as  it  goes,  of  Hottentots,  Damaras, 
and  some  other  wild  races,  went  to  show  that  their 
sense  discrimination  was  not  superior  to  those  of 
white  men,  even  as  regards  keenness  of  eyesight. 
An  offhand  observer  is  apt  to  err  by  assigning  to 
a  single  cause  what  is  partly  due  to  others  as  well. 
Thus,  as  regards  eyesight,  a  savage  who  is  accustomed 
to  watch  oxen  grazing  at  a  distance  becomes  so 
familiar  with  their  appearance  and  habits  that  he 
can  identify  particular  animals  and  draw  conclusions 
as  to  what  they  are  doing  with  an  accuracy  that 
may  seem  to  strangers  to  be  wholly  dependent  on 
exceptional  acuteness  of  vision.  A  sailor  has  the 
reputation  of  keen  sight  because  he  sees  a  distant 
coast  when  a  landsman  cannot  make  it  out ;  the  fact 
being  that  the  landsman  usually  expects  a  different 
appearance  to  what  he  has  really  to  look  for,  such  as 
a  very  minute  and  sharp  outline  instead  of  a  large, 
faint  blur.  In  a  short  time  a  landsman  becomes 
quite  as  quick  as  a  sailor,  and  in  some  test  experi- 
ments l  he  was  found  on  the  average  to  be  distinctly 
the  superior.  It  is  not  surprising  that  this  should  be 
so,  as  sailors  in  vessels  of  moderate  size  have  hardly 
ever  the  practice  of  focussing  their  eyes  sharply  upon 
objects  farther  off  than  the  length  of  the  vessel  or  the 

1  Gould's  Military  and  Anthropological   Statistics,  p.   530.      New- 
York,  1869. 


SENSITIVITY.  33 

top  of  the  mast,  say  at  a  distance  of  fifty  paces.  The 
horizon  itself  as  seen  from  the  deck,  and  under  the 
most  favourable  circumstances,  is  barely  four  miles 
off,  and  there  is  no  sharpness  of  outline  in  the  inter- 
vening waves.  Besides  this,  the  life  of  a  sailor  is 
very  unhealthy,  as  shown  by  his  growing  old  pre- 
maturely, and  his  eyes  must  be  much  tried  by  foul 
weather  and  salt  spray. 

We  inherit  our  language  from  barbarous  ancestors, 
and  it  shows  traces  of  its  origin  in  the  imperfect  ways 
by  which  grades  of  difference  admit  of  being  expressed. 
Suppose  a  pedestrian  is  asked  whether  the  knapsack 
on  his  back  feels  heavy.  He  cannot  find  a  reply  in 
two  words  that  cover  more  varieties  than  (1)  very 
heavy,  (2)  rather  heavy,  (3)  moderate,  (4)  rather 
light,  (5)  very  light.  I  once  took  considerable  pains 
in  the  attempt  to  draw  up  verbal  scales  of  more  than 
five  orders  of  magnitude,  using  those  expressions  only 
that  every  cultivated  person  would  understand  in  the 
same  sense ;  but  I  did  not  succeed.  A  series  that 
satisfied  one  person  was  not  interpreted  in  the  same 
sense  by  another. 

The  general  intention  of  this  chapter  has  been  to 
show  that  a  delicate  power  of  sense  discrimination  is 
an  attribute  of  a  high  race,  and  that  it  has  not  the 
drawback  of  being  necessarily  associated  with  nervous 
irritability. 


D 


34  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN  FACULTY. 


Sequence  of  Test  Weights. 

I  will  now  describe  an  apparatus  I  Have  con- 
structed to  test  the  delicacy  with  which  weights 
may  be  discriminated  by  handling  them.  I  do  so 
because  the  principle  on  which  it  is  based  may  be 
adopted  in  apparatus  for  testing  other  senses,  and 
its  description  and  the  conditions  of  its  use  will 
illustrate  the  desiderata  and  difficulties  of  all  such 
investigations. 

A  series  of  test  weights  is  a  simple  enough 
idea, — the  difficulty  lies  in  determining  the  partic- 
ular sequence  of  weights  that  should  be  employed. 
Mine  form  a  geometric  series,  for  the  reason  that  when 
stimuli  of  all  kinds  increase  by  geometric  grades  the 
sensations  they  give  rise  to  will  increase  by  arithmetic 
grades,  so  long  as  the  stimulus  is  neither  so  weak  as 
to  be  barely  felt,  nor  so  strong  as  to  excite  fatigue. 
My  apparatus,  which  is  explained  more  fully  in  the 
Appendix,  consists  of  a  number  of  common  gun  cart- 
ridge cases  filled  with  alternate  layers  of  shot,  wool, 
and  wadding,  and  then  closed  in  the  usual  way.  They 
are  all  identical  in  appearance,  and  may  be  said  to 
differ  only  in  their  specific  gravities.  They  are  marked 
in  numerical  sequence  with  the  register  numbers,  1,  2, 
3,  etc.,  but  their  weights  are  proportioned  to  the  num- 
bers of  which  1,  2,  3,  etc.,  are  the  logarithms,  and 
consequently  run  in  a  geometric  series.  Hence  the 
numbers  of  the  weights  form  a  scale  of  equal  degrees  of 
sensitivity.    If  a  person  can  just  distinguish  between  the 


to* 


SEQUENCE    OF    TEST   WEIGHTS.  35 

weights  numbered  1  and  3,  he  can  also  just  distinguish 
between  2  and  4,  3  and  5,  and  any  other  pair  of  weights 
of  which  the  register  number  of  the  one  exceeds  that 
of  the  other  by  2.  Again,  his  coarseness  of  discrimi- 
nation  is  exactly  double  of  that  of  another  person  who 
can  just  distinguish  pairs  of  weights  differing  only 
by  1,  such  as  1  and  2,  2  and  3,  3  and  4,  and  so  on. 
The  testing  is  performed  by  handing  pairs  of  weights 
to  the  operatee  until  his  power  of  discrimination  is 
approximately  made  out,  and  then  to  proceed  more 
carefully.  It  is  best  now,  for  reasons  stated  in  the 
Appendix,  to  hand  to  the  operatee  sequences  of  three 
weights  at  a  time,  after  shuffling  them.  These  he  has 
to  arrange  in  their  proper  order,  with  his  eyes  shut, 
and  by  the  sense  of  their  weight  alone.  The  operator 
finally  records  the  scale  interval  that  the  operatee 
can  just  appreciate,  as  being  the  true  measure  of  the 
coarseness  (or  the  inverse  measure  of  the  delicacy)  of 
the  sensitivity  of  the  operatee. 

It  is  somewhat  tedious  to  test  many  persons  in 
succession,  but  any  one  can  test  his  own  powers  at  odd 
and  end  times  with  ease  and  nicety,  if  he  happens  to 
have  ready  access  to  suitable  apparatus. 

The  use  of  tests,  which,  objectively  speaking,  run 
in  a  geometric  series,  and  subjectively  in  an  arithmetic 
one,  may  be  applied  to  touch,  by  the  use  of  wire-work 
of  various  degrees  of  fineness  ;  to  taste,  by  stock  bottles 
of  solutions  of  salt,  etc.,  of  various  strengths;  to  smell, 
by  bottles  of  attar  of  rose,  etc.,  in  various  degrees  of 
dilution. 


36  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

The  tests  show  the  sensitivity  at  the  time  they  are 
made,  and  give  an  approximate  measure  of  the  dis- 
crimination with  which  the  operatee  habitually  employs 
his  senses.  It  does  not  measure  his  capacity'  for  dis- 
crimination, because  the  discriminative  faculty  admits 
of  much  education,  and  the  test  results  always  show 
increased  delicacy  after  a  little  practice.  However, 
the  requirements  of  everyday  life  educate  all  our  facul- 
ties in  some  degree,  and  I  have  not  found  the  perform- 
ances with  test  weights  to  improve  much  after  a  little 
familiarity  with  their  use.  The  weights  have,  as  it 
were,  to  be  played  with  at  first,  then  they  must  be 
tried  carefully  on  three  or  four  separate  occasions. 

I  did  not  at  first  find  it  at  all  an  easy  matter  to  make 
test  weights  so  alike  as  to  differ  in  no  other  appreciable 
respect  than  in  their  specific  gravity,  and  if  they  differ 
and  become  known  apart,  the  knowledge  so  acquired 
will  vitiate  future  judgments  in  various  indirect  ways. 
Similarity  in  outward  shape  and  touch  was  ensured 
by  the  use  of  mechanically-made  cartridge  cases ;  dis- 
similarity through  any  external  stain  was  rendered 
of  no  hindrance  to  the  experiment  by  making  the 
operatee  handle  them  in  a  bag  or  with  his  eyes  shut. 
Two  bodies  may,  however,  be  alike  in  weight  and 
outward  appearance  and  yet  behave  differently  when 
otherwise  mechanically  tested,  and,  consequently, 
when  they  are  handled.  For  example,  take  two 
eggs,  one  raw  and  the  other  hard  boiled,  and  spin 
them  on  the  table  ;  press  the  finger  for  a  moment 
upon  either  of  them  whilst  it  is  still  spinning  :  if  it 


SEQUENCE    OF    TEST    WEIGHTS.  37 

be  the  hard-boiled  egg  it  will  stop  as  dead  as  a  stone  ; 
if  it  be  the  raw  egg,  after  a  little  apparent  hesitation, 
it  will  begin  again  to  rotate.  The  motion  of  its  shell 
had  alone  been  stopped  ;  the  internal  part  was  still 
rotating  and  this  compelled  the  shell  to  follow  it. 
Owing  to  this  cause,  when  we  handle  the  two  eggs,  the 
one  feels  "  quick  "  and  the  other  does  not.  Similarly 
with  the  cartridges,  when  one  is  rather  more  loosely 
packed  than  the  others  the  difference  is  perceived 
on  handling  them.  Or  it  may  have  one  end  heavier 
than  the  other,  or  else  its  weight  may  not  be  equally 
distributed  round  its  axis,  causing  it  to  rest  on  the 
table  with  the  same  part  always  lowermost ;  differences 
due  to  these  causes  are  also  easily  perceived  when 
handling  the  cartridges.  Again,  one  of  two  similar 
cartridges  may  balance  perfectly  in  all  directions,  but 
the  weight  of  one  of  them  may  be  disposed  too  much 
towards  the  ends,  as  in  a  dumb-bell,  or  gathered  too 
much  towards  the  centre.  The  period  of  oscillation 
will  differ  widely  in  the  two  cases,  as  may  be  shown 
by  suspending  the  cartridges  by  strings  round  their 
middle  so  that  they  shall  hang  horizontally,  and  then 
by  a  slight  tap  making  them  spin  to  and  fro  round 
the  string  as  an  axis. 

The  touch  is  very  keen  in  distinguishing  all  these 
peculiarities.  I  have  mentioned  them,  and  might 
have  added  more,  to  show  that  experiments  on 
sensitivity  have  to  be  made  in  the  midst  of  pitfalls 
warily  to  be  avoided.  Our  apparently  simplest  per- 
ceptions are  very  complex.  We  hardly  ever  act  on 
the  information  given  by  only  one   element  of  one 


38  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

sense,  and  our  sensitivity  in  any  desired  direction 
cannot  be  rightly  determined  except  by  carefully- 
devised  apparatus  judiciously  used. 


Whistles  for  Audibility  of  Shrill  Notes. 

I  contrived  a  small  whistle  for  conveniently  ascer- 
taining the  upper  limits  of  audible  sound  in  differ- 
ent persons,  which  Dr.  Wollaston  had  shown  to 
vary  considerably.  He  used  small  pipes,  and  found 
much  difficulty  in  making  them.  I  made  a  very 
small  whistle  from  a  brass  tube  whose  internal  dia- 
meter was  less  than  one  tenth  of  an  inch  in  diameter. 
A  plug  was  fitted  into  the  lower  end  of  the  tube, 
which  could  be  pulled  out  or  pushed  in  as  much  as 
desired,  thereby  causing  the  length  of  the  bore  of  the 
whistle  to  be  varied  at  will.  When  the  bore  is  long 
the  note  is  low ;  when  short,  it  is  high.  The  plug- 
was  graduated,  so  that  the  precise  note  produced  by 
the  whistle  could  be  determined  by  reading  off  the 
graduations  and  referring  to  a  table.    (See  Appendix). 

On  testing  different  persons,  I  found  there  was  a 
remarkable  falling  off  in  the  power  of  hearing  high 
notes  as  age  advanced.  The  persons  themselves  were 
quite  unconscious  of  their  deficiency  so  long  as  their 
sense  of  hearing  low  notes  remained  unimpaired.  It 
is  an  only  too  amusing  experiment  to  test  a  party  of 
persons  of  various  ages,  including  some  rather  elderly 
and  self-satisfied  personages.  They  are  indignant  at 
being  thought  deficient  in  the  power  of  hearing,  yet 


WHISTLES  FOR  AUDIBILITY  OF  SHRILL  NOTES.       39 

the  experiment  quickly  shows  that  they  are  absolutely 
deaf  to  shrill  notes  which  the  younger  persons  hear 
acutely,  and  they  commonly  betray  much  dislike  to 
the  discovery.  Every  one  has  his  limit,  and  the  limit 
at  which  sounds  become  too  shrill  to  be  audible  to 
any  particular  person  can  be  rapidly  determined  by 
this  little  instrument.  Lord  Kaleigh  and  others  have 
found  that  sensitive  flames  are  powerfully  affected  by 
the  vibrations  of  whistles  that  are  too  rapid  to  be 
audible  to  ordinary  ears. 

I  have  tried  experiments  with  all  kinds  of  animals 
on  their  powers  of  hearing  shrill  notes.  I  have  gone 
through  the  whole  of  the  Zoological  Gardens,  using  an 
apparatus  arranged  for  the  purpose.  It  consists  of 
one  of  my  little  whistles  at  the  end  of  a  walking- 
stick — that  is,  in  reality,  a  long  tube  ;  it  has  a  bit  of 
india-rubber  pipe  under  the  handle,  a  sudden  squeeze 
upon  which  forces  a  little  air  into  the  whistle  and 
causes  it  to  sound.  I  hold  it  as  near  as  is  safe  to 
the  ears  of  the  animals,  and  when  they  are  quite 
accustomed  to  its  presence  and  heedless  of  it,  I  make 
it  sound ;  then  if  they  prick  their  ears  it  shows  that 
they  hear  the  whistle  ;  if  they  do  not,  it  is  probably 
inaudible  to  them.  Still,  it  is  very  possible  that  in 
some  cases  they  hear  but  do  not  heed  the  sound.  Of 
all  creatures,  I  have  found  none  superior  to  cats  in 
the  power  of  hearing  shrill  sounds  ;  it  is  perfectly 
remarkable  what  a  faculty  they  have  in  this  way. 
Cats,  of  course,  have  to  deal  in  the  dark  with  mice, 
and  to  find  them  out  by  their  squealing.  Many 
people   cannot   hear   the    shrill    squeal  of  a  mouse. 


40  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

Some  time  ago,  singing  mice  were  exhibited  in  Lon- 
don, and  of  the  people  who  went  to  hear  them,  some 
could  hear  nothing,  whilst  others  could  hear  a  little, 
and  others  again  could  hear  much.  Cats  are  differen- 
tiated by  natural  selection  until  they  have  a  power  of 
hearing  all  the  high  notes  made  by  mice  and  other 
little  creatures  that  they  have  to  catch.  A  cat  that 
is  at  a  very  considerable  distance,  can  be  made  to  turn 
its  ear  round  by  sounding  a  note  that  is  too  shrill  to 
be  audible  by  almost  any  human  ear.  Small  dogs 
also  hear  very  shrill  notes,  but  large  ones  do  not. 
I  have  walked  through  the  streets  of  a  town  with  an 
instrument  like  that  which  I  used  in  the  Zoological 
Gardens,  and  made  nearly  all  the  little  dogs  turn 
round,  but  not  the  large  ones.  At  Berne,  where 
there  appear  to  be  more  large  dogs  lying  idly  about 
the  streets  than  in  any  other  town  in  Europe,  I  have 
tried  the  whistle  for  hours  together,  on  a  great  many 
large  dogs,  but  could  not  find  one  that  heard  it. 
Ponies  are  sometimes  able  to  hear  very  high  notes. 
I  once  frightened  a  pony  with  one  of  these  whistles 
in  the  middle  of  a  large  field.  My  attempts  on  insect 
hearing  have  been  failures. 


Anthropometric  Registers. 

When  shall  we  have  anthropometric  laboratories, 
where  a  man  may,  when  he  pleases,  get  himself  and 
his  children  weighed,  measured,  and  rightly  photo- 
graphed, and  have  their  bodily  faculties  tested  by  the 


ANTHROPOMETRIC    REGISTERS.  41 

best  methods  known  to  modern  science  ?  The  records 
of  growth  of  numerous  persons  from  childhood  to 
age  are  required  before  it  can  be  possible  to  rightly 
appraise  the  effect  of  external  conditions  upon  de- 
velopment, and  records  of  this  kind  are  at  present 
non-existent.  The  various  measurements  should  be 
accompanied  by  photographic  studies  of  the  features 
in  full  face  and  in  profile,  and  on  the  same  scale,  for 
convenience  of  comparison. 

We  are  all  lazy  in  recording  facts  bearing  on  our- 
selves, but  parents  are  glad  enough  to  do  so  in  respect 
to  their  children,  and  they  would  probably  be  inclined 
to  avail  themselves  of  a  laboratory  where  all  that 
is  required  could  be  done  easily  aud  at  small  cost. 
These  domestic  records  would  hereafter  become  of 
considerable  biographical  interest.  Every  one  of  us 
in  his  mature  age  would  be  glad  of  a  series  of  pictures 
of  himself  from  childhood  onwards,  accompanied  by 
physical  records,  and  arranged  consecutively  with 
notes  of  current  events  by  their  sides.  Much  more 
would  he  be  glad  of  similar  collections  referring  to 
his  father,  mother,  grandparents,  and  other  near 
relatives.  It  would  be  peculiarly  grateful  to  the 
young  to  possess  likenesses  of  their  parents  and  those 
whom  they  look  upon  as  heroes,  taken  when  they 
were  of  the  same  age  as  themselves.  Boys  are  too 
apt  to  think  of  their  parents  as  having  always  been 
elderly  men,  because  they  have  insufficient  data  to 
construct  imaginary  pictures  of  them  as  they  were  in 
their  youth. 

The  cost  of  taking  photographs  in  batches  is  so 


42  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

small,  and  the  time  occupied  is  so  brief,  when  the 
necessary  preparations  have  been  made  and  the  sitters 
are  ready  at  hand,  that  a  practice  of  methodically 
photographing  schoolboys  and  members  of  other  large 
institutions  might  easily  be  established.  I,  for  one, 
should  dearly  prize  the  opportunity  of  visiting  the 
places  where  I  have  been  educated,  and  of  turning 
over  pages  showing  myself  and  my  companions  as  we 
were  in  those  days.  But  no  such  records  exist ;  the 
institutions  last  and  flourish,  the  individuals  who  pass 
through  them  are  dispersed  and  leave  few  or  no 
memorials  behind.  It  seems  a  cruel  waste  of  oppor- 
tunity not  to  make  and  keep  these  brief  personal 
records  in  a  methodical  manner.  The  fading  of 
ordinary  photographic  prints  is  no  real  objection  to 
keeping  a  register,  because  they  can  now  be  repro- 
duced at  small  charge  in  permanent  printers'  ink,  by 
the  autotype  and  other  processes. 

I  have  seen  with  admiration,  and  have  had  an 
opportunity  of  availing  myself  of,  the  newly -estab- 
lished library  of  well-ordered  folios  at  the  Admiralty, 
each  containing  a  thousand  pages,  and  each  page 
containing  a  brief  summary  of  references  to  the  life 
of  a  particular  seaman.  There  are  already  80,000 
pages,  and  owing  to  the  excellent  organisation  of  the 
office  it  is  a  matter  of  perfect  ease  to  follow  out  any 
one  of  these  references,  and  to  learn  every  detail  of  the 
service  of  any  seaman.  A  brief  register  of  measure- 
ments and  events  in  the  histories  of  a  large  number 
of  persons,  previous  to  their  entering  any  institution 
and  during  their  residence  in  it,  need  not  therefore 


ANTHROPOMETRIC    REGISTERS.  43 

be  a  difficult  matter  to  those  who  may  take  it  in  hand 
seriously  and  methodically. 

The  recommendations  I  would  venture  to  make 
to  my  readers  is  to  obtain  photographs  and  ordinary 
measurements  periodically  of  themselves  and  their 
children,  making  it  a  family  custom  to  do  so,  because, 
unless  driven  by  some  custom,  the  act  will  be  post- 
poned until  the  opportunity  is  lost.  Let  those  peri- 
odical photographs  be  full  and  side  views  of  the  face 
on  an  adequate  scale,  adding  any  others  that  may  be 
wished,  but  not  omitting  these.  As  the  portraits 
accumulate  have  collections  of  them  autotyped. 
Keep  the  prints  methodically  in  a  family  register, 
writing  by  their  side  careful  chronicles  of  illness  and 
all  such  events  as  used  to  find  a  place  on  the  fly-leaf 
of  the  Bible  of  former  generations,  and  inserting  other 
interesting  personal  facts  and  whatever  anthropo- 
metric data  can  be  collected. 

Those  who  care  to  initiate  and  carry  on  a  family 
chronicle  illustrated  by  abundant  photographic  por- 
traiture, will  produce  a  work  that  they  and  their 
children  and  their  descendants  in  more  remote  genera- 
tions will  assuredly  be  grateful  for.  The  family  tie 
has  a  real  as  well  as  a  traditional  significance.  The 
world  is  beginnmo;  to  awaken  to  the  fact  that  the  life 
of  the  individual  is  in  some  real  sense  a  prolongation 
of  those  of  his  ancestry.  His  vigour,  his  character, 
and  his  diseases  are  principally  derived  from  theirs ; 
sometimes  his  faculties  are  blends  of  ancestral  quali- 
ties ;  but  more  frequently  they  are  mosaics,  patches 
of  resemblance  to  one  or  other  of  them  showing  now 


44  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

here  and  now  there.  The  life  histories  of  our  relatives 
are  prophetic  of  our  own  futures ;  they  are  far  more 
instructive  to  us  than  those  of  strangers,  far  more 
fitted  to  encourage  and  to  forewarn  us.  If  there  be 
such  a  thing  as  a  natural  birthright,  I  can  conceive  of 
none  superior  to  the  right  of  the  child  to  be  informed, 
at  first  by  proxy  through  his  guardians,  and  after- 
wards personally,  of  the  life-history,  medical  and 
other,  of  his  ancestry.  The  child  is  thrust  into 
existence  without  his  having  any  voice  at  all  in 
the  matter,  and  the  smallest  amend  that  those  who 
brought  him  here  can  make,  is  to  furnish  him  with 
all  the  guidance  they  can,  including  the  complete 
life-histories  of  his  near  progenitors. 

The  investigation  of  human  eugenics — that  is,  of 
the  conditions  under  which  men  of  a  high  type  are 
produced — is  at  present  extremely  hampered  by  the 
want  of  full  family  histories,  both  medical  and  general, 
extending  over  three  or  four  generations.  There  is 
no  such  difficulty  in  investigating  animal  eugenics, 
because  the  generations  of  horses,  cattle,  dogs,  etc., 
are  brief,  and  the  breeder  of  any  such  stock  lives  long 
enough  to  acquire  a  large  amount  of  experience  from 
his  own  personal  observation.  A  man,  however,  can 
rarely  be  familiar  with  more  than  two  or  three  gener- 
ations of  his  contemporaries  before  age  has  begun  to 
check  his  powers  ;  his  working  experience  must  there- 
fore be  chiefly  based  upon  records.  Believing,  as  I 
do,  that  human  eugenics  will  become  recognised 
before  long  as  a  study  of  the  highest  practical  import- 
ance, it  seems  to  me  that  no  time  ought  to  be  lost  in 


UNCONSCIOUSNESS    OF    PECULIARITIES.  45 

encouraging  and  directing  a  habit  of  compiling  per- 
sonal and  family  histories.  If  the  necessary  materials 
be  brought  into  existence,  it  will  require  no  more  than 
zeal  and  persuasiveness  on  the  part  of  the  future  in- 
vestigator to  collect  as  large  a  store  of  them  as  he 
may  require. 


Unconsciousness  of  Peculiarities. 

The  importance  of  submitting  our  faculties  to 
measurement  lies  in  the  curious  unconsciousness  in 
which  we  are  apt  to  live  of  our  personal  peculiarities, 
and  which  our  intimate  friends  often  fail  to  remark. 
I  have  spoken  of  the  ignorance  of  elderly  persons  of 
their  deafness  to  high  notes,  but  even  the  existence 
of  such  a  peculiarity  as  colour  blindness  was  not  sus- 
pected until  the  memoir  of  Dalton  in  1794.  That 
one  person  out  of  twenty-nine  or  thereabouts  should 
be  unable  to  distinguish  a  red  from  a  green,  with- 
out knowing  that  he  had  any  deficiency  of  colour 
sense,  and  without  betraying  his  deficiency  to  his 
friends,  seems  perfectly  incredible  to  the  other 
twenty -eight ;  yet  as  a  matter  of  fact  he  rarely 
does  either  the  one  or  the  other.  It  is  hard  to 
convince  the  colour-blind  of  their  own  infirmity. 
I  have  seen  curious  instances  of  this :  one  was 
that  of  a  person  by  no  means  unpractised  in 
physical  research,  who  had  been  himself  tested  in 
matching:  colours.  He  gave  me  his  own  version  of  the 
result,  to  the  effect  that  though  he   might  perhaps 


46  INQUIRIES   INTO    HUMAN   FACULTY. 

have  fallen  a  little  short  of  perfection  as  judged  by- 
over-refined  tests,  his  colour  sense  was  for  all  practical 
purposes  quite  good.  On  the  other  hand,  the  opera- 
tor assured  me  that  when  he  had  toned  the  intensities 
of  a  pure  red  and  a  pure  green  in  a  certain  propor- 
tion, the  person  ceased  to  be  able  to  distinguish  be- 
tween them  !  Colour  blindness  is  often  very  difficult 
to  detect,  because  the  test  hues  and  tints  may  be 
discriminated  by  other  means  than  by  the  normal 
colour  sense.  Ordinary  pigments  are  never  pure, 
and  the  test  colours  may  be  distinguished  by  those  of 
their  adventitious  hues  to  which  the  partly  colour- 
blind man  may  be  sensitive.  We  do  not  suspect 
ourselves  to  be  yellow-blind  by  candle  light,  because 
we  enjoy  pictures  in  the  evening  nearly  or  perhaps 
quite  as  much  as  in  the  day  time ;  yet  we  may  observe 
that  a  yellow  primrose  laid  on  the  white  table-cloth 
wholly  loses  its  colour  by  candle  light,  and  becomes 
as  white  as  a  snowdrop. 

In  the  inquiries  I  made  on  the  hereditary  trans- 
mission of  capacity,  I  was  often  amused  by  the  naive 
remark  of  men  who  had  easily  distanced  their  com- 
petitors, that  they  ascribed  their  success  to  their  own 
exertions.  They  little  recognised  how  much  they 
owed  to  their  natural  gifts  of  exceptional  capacity 
and  energy  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  exceptional  love 
for  their  special  work  on  the  other. 

In  future  chapters  I  shall  give  accounts  of  persons 
who  have  unusual  mental  characteristics  as  regards 
imagery,  visualised  numerals,  colours  connected  with 
sounds  and  special  associations  of  ideas,  being  uncon- 


UNCONSCIOUSNESS    OF    PECULIARITIES.  47 

scious  of  their  peculiarities ;  but  I  cannot  anticipate 
these  subjects  here,  as  they  all  require  explanation. 
It  will  be  seen  in  the  end  how  greatly  metaphysicians 
and  psychologists  may  err,  who  assume  their  own 
mental  operations,  instincts,  and  axioms  to  be  identical 
with  those  of  the  rest  of  mankind,  instead  of  being 
special  to  themselves.  The  differences  between  men 
are  profound,  and  we  can  only  be  saved  from  living 
in  blind  unconsciousness  of  our  own  mental  peculiar- 
ities by  the  habit  of  informing  ourselves  as  well  as 
we  can  of  those  of  others.  Examples  of  the  success 
with  which  this  can  be  done  will  be  found  farther  on 
in  the  book. 

I  may  take  this  opportunity  of  remarking  on  the 
well-known  hereditary  character  of  colour  blindness 
in  connection  with  the  fact,  that  it  is  nearly  twice  as 
prevalent  among  the  Quakers  as  among  the  rest  of  the 
community,  the  proportions  being  as  5*9  to  3*5  per 
cent.1  We  might  have  expected  an  even  larger  ratio. 
Nearly  every  Quaker  is  descended  on  both  sides  solely 
from  members  of  a  group  of  men  and  women  who 
segregated  themselves  from  the  rest  of  the  world 
five  or  six  generations  ago ;  one  of  their  strongest 
opinions  being  that  the  fine  arts  were  worldly  snares, 
and  their  most  conspicuous  practice  being  to  dress  in 
drabs.  A  born  artist  could  never  have  consented  to 
separate  himself  from  his  fellows  on  such  grounds  ;  he 
would  have  felt  the  profession  of  those  opinions  and 
their  accompanying  practices  to  be  a  treason  to  his 

1   Trans.  Ophthalmological  Soc,  1881,  p.  198. 


48  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

aesthetic  nature.  Consequently  few  of  the  original 
stock  of  Quakers  are  likely  to  have  had  the  tempera- 
ment that  is  associated  with  a  love  for  colour,  and  it 
is  in  consequence  most  reasonable  to  believe  that  a 
larger  proportion  of  colour-blind  men  would  have 
been  found  among  them  than  among  the  rest  of  the 
population. 

Again,  Quakerism  is  a  decreasing  sect,  weakened 
by  yearly  desertions  and  losses,  especially  as  the  act 
of  marriage  with  a  person  who  is  not  a  member  of  the 
Society  is  necessarily  followed  by  exclusion  from  it. 
It  is  most  probable  that  a  large  proportion  of  the 
deserters  would  be  those  who,  through  reversion  to 
some  bygoue  ancestor,  had  sufficient  artistic  taste  to 
make  a  continuance  of  Quaker  practices  too  irksome 
to  be  endured.  Hence  the  existing  members  of  the 
Society  of  Friends  are  a  race  who  probably  contained 
in  the  first  instance  an  unduly  large  proportion  of 
colour-blind  men,  and  from  whose  descendants  many 
of  those  who  were  not  born  colour  blind  have  year  by 
year  been  drafted  away.  Both  causes  must  have 
combined  with  the  already  well-known  tendency  of 
colour  blindness  to  hereditary  transmission,  to  cause 
it  to  become  a  characteristic  of  their  race.  Dalton, 
who  first  discovered  its  existence,  as  a  personal  pecu- 
liarity of  his  own,  was  a  Quaker  to  his  death;  Young, 
the  discoverer  of  the  undulatory  theory  of  light,  and 
who  wrote  specially  on  colours,  was  a  Quaker  by  birth, 
but  he  married  outside  the  body  and  so  ceased  to 
belong  to  it. 


STATISTICAL   METHODS.  49 


Statistical  Methods. 


The  object  of  statistical  science  is  to  discover 
methods  of  condensing  information  concerning  large 
groups  of  allied  facts  into  brief  and  compendious  ex- 
pressions suitable  for  discussion.  The  possibility  of 
doing  this  is  based  on  the  constancy  and  continuity 
with  which  objects  of  the  same  species  are  found 
to  vary.  That  is  to  say,  we  always  find,  after 
sorting  any  large  number  of  such  objects  in  the 
order  (let  us  suppose)  of  their  lengths,  beginning 
with  the  shortest  and  ending  with  the  tallest,  and 
setting  them  side  by  side  like  a  long  row  of  park 
palings  between  the  same  limits,  their  upper  outline 
will  be  identical.  Moreover,  it  will  run  smoothly 
and  not  in  irregular  steps.  The  theoretical  inter- 
pretation of  the  smoothness  of  outline  is  that  the 
individual  differences  in  the  objects  are  caused  by 
different  combinations  of  a  large  number  of  minute 
influences ;  and  as  the  difference  between  any  two 
adjacent  objects  in  a  long  row  must  depend  on  the 
absence  in  one  of  them  of  some  single  influence,  or  of 
only  a  few  such,  that  were  present  in  the  other,  the 
amount  of  difference  will  be  insensible.  Whenever 
we  find  on  trial  that  the  outline  of  the  row  is  not  a 
flowing  curve,  the  presumption  is  that  the  objects  are 
not  all  of  the  same  species,  but  that  part  are  affected 
by  some  large  influence  from  which  the  others  are 
free ;  consequently  there  is  a  confusion  of  curves. 
This  presumption  is  never  found  to  be  belied. 

E 


50  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

It  is  unfortunate  for  the  peace  of  mind  of  the 
statistician  that  the  influences  by  which  the  magni- 
tudes, etc.,  of  the  objects  are  determined  can  seldom 
if  ever  be  roundly  classed  into  large  and  small,  with- 
out intermediates.  He  is  tantalised  by  the  hope  of 
getting  hold  of  sub-groups  of  sufficient  size  that  shall 
contain  no  individuals  except  those  belonging  strictly 
to  the  same  species,  and  he  is  almost  constantly  baffled. 
In  the  end  he  is  obliged  to  exercise  his  judgment  as  to 
the  limit  at  which  he  should  cease  to  subdivide.  If 
he  subdivides  very  frequently,  the  groups  become  too 
small  to  have  statistical  value  ;  if  less  frequently,  the 
groups  will  be  less  truly  specific. 

A  species  may  be  defined  as  a  group  of  objects 
whose  individual  differences  are  wholly  due  to  dif- 
ferent combinations  of  the  same  set  of  minute  causes, 
no  one  of  which  is  so  powerful  as  to  be  able  by 
itself  to  make  any  sensible  difference  in  the  result. 
A  well-known  mathematical  consequence  flows  from 
this,  which  is  also  universally  observed  as  a  fact, 
namely,  that  in  all  species  the  number  of  indivi- 
duals who  differ  from  the  average  value,  up  to  any 
given  amount,  is  much  greater  than  the  number  who 
differ  more  than  that  amount,  and  up  to  the  double 
of  it.  In  short,  if  an  assorted  series  be  represented 
by  upright  lines  arranged  side  by  side  along  a  hori- 
zontal base  at  equal  distances  apart,  and  of  lengths 
proportionate  to  the  magnitude  of  the  quality  in  the 
corresponding  objects,  then  their  shape  will  always 
resemble  that  shown  in  Fig.  1. 

The  form  of  the  bounding  curve  resembles  that 


STATISTICAL   METHODS. 


51 


which  is  called  in  architectural  language  an  ogive, 
from  "  augive,"  an  old  French  word  for  a  cup,  the 
figure  being  not  unlike  the  upper  half  of  a  cup  lying 
sideways  with  its  axis  horizontal.  In  consequence  of 
the  multitude  of  mediocre  values,  we  always  find  that 
on  either  side  of  the  middlemost  ordinate  Cc,  which 
is  the  median  value  and  may  be  accepted  as  the  aver- 
age, there  is  a  much  less  rapid  change  of  height  than 
elsewhere.     If  the  figure  were  pulled  out  sideways  to 


v 


c 

Fig.l. 


Fig.2. 


make  it  accord  with  such  physical  conceptions  as  that 
of  a  row  of  men  standing  side  by  side,  the  middle 
part  of  the  curve  would  be  apparently  horizontal. 

The  mathematical  conception  of  the  curve  is  best 
expressed  in  Fig.  2,  where  PQ  represents  any  given 
deviation  from  the  average  value,  and  the  ratio  of  PO 
to  AB  represents  the  relative  probability  of  its  occur- 
rence. The  equation  to  the  curve  and  a  discussion  of 
its  properties  will  be  found  in  the  Proceedings  of  the 
Royal  Society,  No.  198,  1879,  by  Dr.  M'Alister.  The 
title  of  the   paper   is  the  "Law    of  the   Geometric 


52  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

Mean,"  and  it  follows  one  by  myself  on  "  The  Geo- 
metric Mean  in  Vital  and  Social  Statistics." 

We  can  lay  down  the  ogive  of  any  quality,  physi- 
cal or  mental,  whenever  we  are  capable  of  judging 
which  of  any  two  members  of  the  group  we  are 
engaged  upon  has  the  larger  amount  of  that  quality. 
I  have  called  this  the  method  of  statistics  by  inter- 
comparison.  There  is  no  bodily  or  mental  attribute 
in  any  race  of  individuals  that  can  be  so  dealt  with, 
whether  our  judgment  in  comparing  them  be  guided 
by  common-sense  observation  or  by  actual  measure- 
ment, which  cannot  be  gripped  and  consolidated  into 
an  ogive  with  a  smooth  outline,  and  thenceforward  be 
treated  in  discussion  as  a  single  object. 

It  is  easy  to  describe  any  given  ogive  which  has 
been  based  upon  measurements,  so  that  it  may  be 
drawn  from  the  description  with  approximate  truth. 
Divide  AB  into  a  convenient  number  of  fractional 
parts,  and  record  the  height  of  the  ordinates  at  those 
parts.  In  reproducing  the  ogive  from  these  data, 
draw  a  base  line  of  any  convenient  length,  divide  it 
in  the  same  number  of  fractional  parts,  erect  ordinates 
of  the  stated  lengths  at  those  parts,  connect  their 
tops  with  a  flowing  line,  and  the  thing  is  done.  The 
most  convenient  fractional  parts  are  the  middle 
(giving  the  median),  the  outside  quarters  (giving  the 
upper  and  lower  quartiles),  and  similarly  the  upper 
and  lower  octiles  or  deciles.  This  is  sufficient  for 
most  purposes.     It  leaves  only  the  outer  eighths  or 


STATISTICAL   METHODS.  53 

tenths  of  the  cases  undescribed  and  undetermined, 
except  so  far  as  may  be  guessed  by  the  run  of  the 
intermediate  portion  of  the  curve,  and  it  defines  all  of 
the  intermediate  portion  with  as  close  an  approxima- 
tion as  is  needed  for  ordinary  or  statistical  purposes. 

Thus  the  heights  of  all  but  the  outer  tenths  of  the 
whole  body  of  adult  males  of  the  English  professional 
classes  may  be  derived  from  the  five  following  ordin- 
ates,  measured  in  inches,  of  which  the  outer  pair  are 

deciles. 

67-2;  67-5;  68-8;  70'3 ;  714. 

Many  other  instances  will  be  found  in  the  Eeport  of 
the  Anthropometric  Committee  of  the  British  Asso- 
ciation in  1881,  pp.  245-257. 

When  we  desire  to  compare  any  two  large  statis- 
tical groups,  we  may  compare  median  with  median, 
quartiles  with  quartiles,  and  octiles  with  octiles ;  or 
we  may  proceed  on  the  method  to  be  described  in  the 
next  paragraph  but  one. 

We  are  often  called  upon  to  define  the  position  of 
an  individual  in  his  own  series,  in  which  case  it  is  most 
conformable  to  usage  to  give  his  centesimal  grade — that 
is,  his  place  on  the  base  line  AB — supposing  it  to  be 
graduated  from  0°  to  100°.  In  reckoning  this,  a  con- 
fusion ought  to  be  avoided  between  "graduation"  and 
"  rank,"  though  it  leads  to  no  sensible  error  in  practice. 
The  first  of  the  "  park  palings  "  does  not  stand  at  A, 
which  is  0°,  nor  does  the  hundreth  stand  at  B,  which  is 
100°,  for  that  would  make  101  of  them ;  but  they  stand 


54  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

at  0°'5  and  990,5  respectively.  Similarly,  all  interme- 
diate ranks  stand  half  a  degree  short  of  the  graduation 
bearing  the  same  number.  When  the  class  is  large, 
the  value  of  half  a  place  becomes  extremely  small,  and 
the  rank  and  graduation  may  be  treated  as  identical. 

Examples  of  method  of  calculating  a  centesimal 
position ; — 

(1.)  A  child  A  is  classed  after  examination  as  No.  5  in  a 
class  of  27  children ;  what  is  his  centesimal  graduation  ? 

Answer. — If  AB  be  divided  into  2  7  graduations,  his  rank  of 
No.  5  will  correspond  to  the  graduation  4°  "5  ;  therefore  if  AB  be 
graduated  afresh  into  100  graduations,  his  centesimal  grade,  x, 
will  be  found  by  the  Rule  of  Three,  thus — 

x  :  4°-5::  100  :  27  :     x  =  i^-0°  =  16°'6. 

*  2  7 

(2.)  Another  child  B  is  classed  No.  13  in  a  class  of  25. 
Ansicer. — If  AB  be  divided  into  25  graduations,  the  rank  of 
No.  13  will  correspond  to  graduation  120-5,  whence  as  before — 
x  :  12°-5  ::  100  :  25  ;     x  =  AiJio0  =  50°  :  i.e.  B  is  the  median. 

3  OR  ' 


2  5 


The  second  method  of  comparing  two  statistical 
groups,  to  which  I  alluded  in  the  last  paragraph  but 
one,  consists  in  stating;  the  centesimal  grade  in  the  one 
group  that  corresponds  with  the  median  or  any  other 
fractional  grade  in  the  other.  This,  it  will  be  re- 
marked, is  a  very  simple  method  of  comparison,  abso- 
lutely independent  of  any  theory,  and  applicable  to 
any  statistical  groups  whatever,  whether  of  physical  or 
of  mental  qualities.  Wherever  we  can  sort  in  order, 
there  we  can  apply  this  method.  Thus,  in  the  above 
examples,  suppose  A  and  B  had  been  selected  because 
they  were  equal  when  compared  together,  then  we  can 
concisely  express  the  relative  merits  of  the  two  classes 


STATISTICAL    METHODS.  55 

to  which  they  respectively  belong,  by  saying  that  16°'6 
in  the  one  is  equal  to  50°  (the  median)  in  the  other. 

I  frequently  make  statistical  records  of  form  and 
feature,  in  the  streets  or  in  company,  without  exciting 
attention,  by  means  of  a  fine  pricker  and  a  piece  of 
paper.  The  pricker  is  a  converted  silver  pencil-case, 
with  the  usual  sliding  piece  ;  it  is  a  very  small  one,  and 
is  attached  to  my  watch  chain.  The  pencil  part  has 
been  taken  out  and  replaced  by  a  fine  short  needle,  the 
open  mouth  of  the  case  is  covered  with  a  hemispherical 
cap  having  a  hole  in  the  centre,  and  the  adjustments 
are  such  that  when  the  slide  is  pushed  forward  as  far 
as  it  can  go,  the  needle  projects  no  more  than  one-tenth 
of  an  inch.  If  I  then  press  it  upon  a  piece  of  paper, 
held  against  the  ball  of  my  thumb,  the  paper  is  indel- 
ibly perforated  with  a  fine  hole,  and  the  thumb  is  not 
wounded.  The  perforations  will  not  be  found  to  run 
into  another  unless  they  are  very  numerous,  and  if  they 
happen  to  do  so  now  and  then,  it  is  of  little  consequence 
in  a  statistical  inquiry.  The  holes  are  easily  counted 
at  leisure,  by  holding  the  paper  against  the  light,  and 
any  scrap  of  paper  will  serve  the  purpose.  It  will  be 
found  that  the  majority  of  inquiries  take  the  form  of 
"  more,"  "  equal  to,"  or  "  less,"  so  I  arrange  the  paper 
in  a  way  to  present  three  distinct  compartments  to  the 
pricker,  and  to  permit  of  its  being  held  in  the  correct 
position  and  used  by  the  sense  of  touch  alone.  I 
do  so  by  tearing  the  paper  into  the  form  of  a  ^ 
cross — that  is,  maimed  in  one  of  its  arms — and  LI 
hold   it   by  the   maimed  part    between   the   thumb 


56  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

and  finger,  the  head  of  the  cross  pointing  upward. 
The  head  of  the  cross  receives  the  pricks  referring  to 
"more ;"  the  solitary  arm  that  is  not  maimed,  those 
meaning  "  the  same ;"  the  long  foot  of  the  cross  those 
meaning  "  less."  It  is  well  to  write  the  subject  of  the 
measurement  on  the  paper  before  beginning  to  use  it, 
then  more  than  one  set  of  records  can  be  kept  in  the 
pocket  at  the  same  time,  and  be  severally  added  to  as 
occasion  serves,  without  fear  of  mistaking  one  for  the 
other. 

Character. 

The  fundamental  and  intrinsic  differences  of  char- 
acter that  exist  in  individuals  are  well  illustrated  by 
those  that  distinguish  the  two  sexes,  and  which  begin 
to  assert  themselves  even  in  the  nursery,  where  all  the 
children  are  treated  alike.  One  notable  peculiarity  in 
the  character  of  the  woman  is  that  she  is  capricious  and 
coy,  and  has  less  straightforwardness  than  the  man. 
It  is  the  same  in  the  female  of  every  sex  about  the 
time  of  pairing,  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  as  to  the 
origin  of  the  peculiarity.  If  any  race  of  animals  existed 
in  whom  the  sexual  passions  of  the  female  were  as 
quickly  and  as  directly  stirred  as  those  of  the  male, 
each  would  mate  with  the  first  who  approached  her, 
and  one  essential  condition  of  sexual  selection  would 
be  absent.  There  would  be  no  more  call  for  competi- 
tion among  the  males  for  the  favour  of  each  female ;  no 
more  fighting  for  love,  in  which  the  strongest  male 
conquers ;  no  more  rival  display  of  personal  charms, 


CHARACTER.  57 

in  which  the  best-looking  or  best -mannered  prevails. 
The  drama  of  courtship,  with  its  prolonged  strivings 
and  doubtful  success,  would  be  cut  quite  short,  and 
the  race  would  degenerate  through  the  absence  of  that 
sexual  selection  for  which  the  protracted  preliminaries 
of  love-making  give  opportunity.  The  willy-nilly 
disposition  of  the  female  in  matters  of  love  is  as  ap- 
parent in  the  butterfly  as  in  the  man,  and  must  have 
been  continuously  favoured  from  the  earliest  stages  of 
animal  evolution  down  to  the  present  time.  It  is  the 
factor  in  the  great  theory  of  sexual  selection  that  cor- 
responds to  the  insistence  and  directness  of  the  male. 
Coyness  and  caprice  have  in  consequence  become  a 
heritage  of  the  sex,  together  with  a  cohort  of  allied 
weaknesses  and  petty  deceits,  that  men  have  come  to 
think  venial  and  even  amiable  in  women,  but  which 
they  would  not  tolerate  among  themselves. 

Various  forms  of  natural  character  and  tempera- 
ment would_  no  doubt  be  found  to  occur  in  constant 
proportions  among  any  large  group  of  persons  of  the 
same  race,  but  what  those  proportions  may  be  has 
never  yet  been  investigated.  It  is  extremely  difficult 
to  estimate  it  by  observations  of  adults,  owing  to  their 
habit  of  restraining  natural  ill  tendencies,  and  to 
their  long-practised  concealment  of  those  they  do  not 
restrain  but  desire  to  hide.  The  necessary  observations 
ought,  however,  to  be  easily  made  on  young  children 
in  schools,  whose  manifestations  of  character  are  con- 
spicuous, who  are  simultaneously  for  months  and  years 
under  the  eye  of  the  same  master  or  mistress,  and 


58  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

who  are  daily  classed  according  to  their  various  merits. 
I  have  occasionally  asked  the  opinion  of  persons 
well  qualified  to  form  them,  and  who  have  had  ex- 
perience of  teaching,  as  to  the  most  obvious  divisions 
of  character  to  be  found  among  school  children. 
The  replies  have  differed,  but  those  on  which  most 
stress  was  laid  were  connected  with  energy,  sociability, 
desire  to  attract  notice,  truthfulness,  thoroughness, 
and  refinement. 

The  varieties  of  the  emotional  constitution  and  of 
likings  and  antipathies  are  very  numerous  and  wide. 
I  may  give  two  instances  which  I  have  not  seen  else- 
where alluded  to,  merely  as  examples  of  variation. 
One  of  them  was  often  brought  to  my  notice  at  the 
time  when  the  public  were  admitted  to  see  the  snakes 
fed  at  the  Zoological  Gardens.  Babbits,  birds,  and  other 
small  animals  were  dropped  in  the  different  cages,  which 
the  snakes,  after  more  or  less  serpentine  action,  finally 
struck  with  their  poison  fangs  or  crushed  in  their  folds. 
I  found  it  a  horrible  but  a  fascinating  scene.  "We  lead 
for  the  most  part  such  an  easy  and  carpeted  existence, 
screened  from  the  stern  realities  of  life  and  death,  that 
many  of  us  are  impelled  to  draw  aside  the  curtain  now 
and  then,  and  gaze  for  a  while  behind  it.  This  exhi- 
bition of  the  snakes  at  their  feeding-time  which  grave 
to  me,  as  it  doubtless  did  to  several  others,  a  sense  of 
curdling  of  the  blood,  had  no  such  effect  on  many  of 
the  visitors.  I  have  often  seen  people — nurses,  for  in- 
stance, and  children  of  all  ages — looking  unconcernedly 
and  amusedly  at  the  scene.  Their  indifference  was 
perhaps  the  most  painful  element  of  the  whole  trans- 


CHARACTER.  59 

action.  Their  sympathies  were  absolutely  unawakened. 
I  quote  this  instance,  partly  because  it  leads  to  another 
very  curious  fact  that  I  have  noticed  as  regards  the  way 
with  which  different  persons  and  races  regard  snakes. 
I  myself  have  a  horror  of  them,  and  can  only  by  great 
self-control,  and  under  a  sense  of  real  agitation,  force 
myself  to  touch  one.  A  considerable  proportion  of  the 
English  race  would  feel  much  as  I  do ;  but  the  remainder 
do  not.  I  have  questioned  numbers  of  persons  of  both 
sexes,  and  have  been  astonished  at  the  frequency 
with  which  I  have  been  assured  that  they  had  no 
shrinking  whatever  from  the  sight  of  the  wriggling 
mysterious  reptile.  Some  persons,  as  is  well  known, 
make  pets  of  them ;  moreover,  I  am  told  that  there  is 
no  passage  in  Greek  or  Latin  authors  expressive  of  that 
form  of  horror  which  I  myself  feel,  and  which  may  be 
compared  to  what  is  said  to  be  felt  by  hydrophobic 
sufferers  at  the  undulating  movements  of  water.  There 
are  numerous  allusions  in  the  classics  to  the  venom 
fang  or  the  crushing  power  of  snakes,  but  not  to  an 
aversion  inspired  by  its  form  and  movement.  It  was 
the  Greek  symbol  of  Hippocrates  and  of  healing. 
There  is  nothing  of  the  kind  in  Hebrew  literature, 
where  the  snake  is  figured  as  an  attractive  tempter. 
In  Hindu  fables  the  cobra  is  the  ingenious  and  in- 
telligent animal,  corresponding  to  the  fox  in  ours. 
Serpent  worship  was  very  widely  spread.  I  there- 
fore doubt  whether  the  antipathy  to  the  snake 
is  very  common  among  mankind,  notwithstanding 
the  instinctive  terror  that  their  sight  inspires  in 
monkeys. 


60  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

The  other  instance  I  may  adduce  is  that  of  the 
horror  of  blood  which  is  curiously  different  in  animals 
of  the  same  species  and  in  the  same  animals  at  different 
times.  I  have  had  a  good  deal  of  experience  of  the 
behaviour  of  oxen  at  the  sight  of  blood,  and  found  it 
to  be  by  no  means  uniform.  In  my  South  African 
travels  I  relied  chiefly  on  half- wild  slaughter  oxen  to 
feed  my  large  party,  and  occasionally  had  to  shoot  one 
on  every  second  day.  Usually  the  rest  of  the  drove 
paid  no  particular  heed  to  the  place  of  blood,  but  at 
other  rare  times  they  seemed  maddened  and  performed 
a  curious  sort  of  war- dance  at  the  spot,  making  buck- 
leaps,  brandishing  their  horns,  and  goring  at  the  ground. 
It  was  a  grotesque  proceeding,  utterly  unlike  the  usual 
behaviour  of  cattle.  I  only  witnessed  it  once  elsewhere, 
and  that  was  in  the  Pyrenees,  where  I  came  on  a  herd 
that  was  being  driven  homewards.  Each  cow  in  turn, 
as  it  passed  a  particular  spot,  performed  the  well-remem- 
bered antics.  I  asked,  and  learned  that  a  cow  had  been 
killed  there  by  a  bear  a  few  days  previously.  The 
natural  horror  at  blood,  and  it  may  be  the  consequent 
dislike  of  red,  is  common  among  mankind  ;  but  I  have 
seen  a  well-dressed  child  of  about  four  years  old  poking 
its  finger  with  a  pleased  innocent  look  into  the  bleed- 
ing carcase  of  a  sheep  hung  up  in  a  butcher's  shop, 
while  its  nurse  was  inside. 

The  subject  of  character  deserves  more  statistical 
investigation  than  it  has  yet  received,  and  none  have 
a  better  chance  of  doing  it  well  than  schoolmasters ; 
their  opportunities  are  indeed  most  enviable.  It 
would  be  necessary  to  approach  the  subject  wholly 


CRIMINALS   AND   THE   INSANE.  61 

without  prejudice,  as  a  pure  matter  of  observation, 
just  as  if  the  children  were  the  fauna  and  flora  of 
hitherto  undescribed  species  in  an  entirely  new  land. 


Criminals  and  the  Insane. 

Criminality,  though  not  very  various  in  its  de- 
velopment, is  extremely  complex  in  its  origin ;  never- 
theless certain  general  conclusions  are  arrived  at  by 
the  best  writers  on  the  subject,  among  whom  Prosper 
Despine  is  one  of  the  most  instructive.  The  ideal 
criminal  has  marked  peculiarities  of  character :  his 
conscience  is  almost  deficient,  his  instincts  are  vicious, 
his  power  of  self-control  is  very  weak,  and  he  usually 
detests  continuous  labour.  The  absence  of  self-con- 
trol is  due  to  ungovernable  temper,  to  passion,  or  to 
mere  imbecility,  and  the  conditions  that  determine 
the*-  particular  description  of  crime  are  the  character 
of  the  instincts  and  of  the  temptation. 

The  deficiency  of  conscience  in  criminals,  as  shown 
by  the  absence  of  genuine  remorse  for  their  guilt, 
astonishes  all  who  first  become  familiar  with  the 
details  of  prison  life.  Scenes  of  heartrending  despair 
are  hardly  ever  witnessed  among  prisoners ;  their 
sleep  is  broken  by  no  uneasy  dreams — on  the  con- 
trary, it  is  easy  and  sound ;  they  have  also  excellent 
appetites.  But  hypocrisy  is  a  very  common  vice ; 
and  all  my  information  agrees  as  to  the  utter  untruth- 
fulness of  criminals,  however  plausible  their  state- 
ments may  be. 


62  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

We  must  guard  ourselves  against  looking  upon 
vicious  instincts  as  perversions,  inasmuch  as  they 
may  be  strictly  in  accordance  with  the  healthy  nature 
of  the  man,  and,  being  transmissible  by  inheritance, 
may  become  the  normal  characteristics  of  a  healthy 
race,  just  as  the  sheep-dog,  the  retriever,  the  pointer, 
and  the  bull-dog,  have  their  several  instincts.  There 
can  be  no  greater  popular  error  than  the  supposition 
that  natural  instinct  is  a  perfectly  trustworthy  guide, 
for  there  are  striking  contradictions  to  such  an  opinion 
in  individuals  of  every  description  of  animal.  '  The 
most  that  we  are  entitled  to  say  in  any  case  is,  that 
the  prevalent  instincts  of  each  race  are  trustworthy, 
not  those  of  every  individual.  But  even  this  is 
saying  too  much,  because  when  the  conditions  under 
which  the  race  is  living  have  recently  been  changed, 
some  instincts  which  were  adapted  to  the  old  state 
of  things  are  sure  to  be  fallacious  guides  to  conduct 
in  the  new  one.  A  man  who  is  counted  as  an 
atrocious  criminal  in  England,  and  is  punished  as 
such  by  English  law  in  social  self-defence,  may  never- 
theless have  acted  in  strict  accordance  with  instincts 
that  are  laudable  in  less  civilised  societies.  The  ideal 
criminal  is,  unhappily  for  him,  deficient  in  qualities 
that  are  capable  of  restraining  his  unkindly  or  in- 
convenient instincts ;  he  has  neither  sympathy  for 
others  nor  the  sense  of  duty,  both  of  which  lie  at 
the  base  of  conscience ;  nor  has  he  sufficient  self-con- 
trol to  accommodate  himself  to  the  society  in  which 
he  has  to  live,  and  so  to  promote  his  own  selfish  in- 
terests in  the  long  run.    He  cannot  be  preserved  from 


CRIMINALS   AND   THE   INSANE.  63 

criminal  misadventure,  either  by  altruistic  sentiments 
or  by  intelligently  egoistic  ones. 

The  perpetuation  of  the  criminal  class  by  heredity 
is  a  question  difficult  to  grapple  with  on  many 
accounts.  Their  vagrant  habits,  their  illegitimate 
unions,  and  extreme  untruthfulness,  are  among  the 
difficulties  of  the  investigation.  It  is,  however,  easy 
to  show  that  the  criminal  nature  tends  to  be  in- 
herited ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  impossible 
that  women  who  spend  a  large  portion  of  the  best 
years  of  their  life  in  prison  can  contribute  many 
children  to  the  population.  The  true  state  of  the  case 
appears  to  be  that  the  criminal  population  receives 
steady  accessions  from  those  who,  without  having 
strongly  marked  criminal  natures,  do  nevertheless  be- 
long to  a  type  of  humanity  that  is  exceedingly  ill 
suited  to  play  a  respectable  part  in  our  modern  civilis- 
ation, though  it  is  well  suited  to  flourish  under  half- 
savage  conditions,  being  naturally  both  healthy  and 
prolific.  These  persons  are  apt  to  go  to  the  bad;  their 
daughters  consort  with  criminals  and  become  the 
parents  of  criminals.  An  extraordinary  example  of  this 
is  afforded  by  the  history  of  the  infamous  Jukes  family 
in  America,  whose  pedigree  has  been  made  out,  with 
extraordinary  care,  during  no  less  than  seven  genera- 
tions, and  is  the  subject  of  an  elaborate  memoir  printed 
in  the  Thirty-first  Annual  Report  of  the  Prison  Associa- 
tion of  New  York,  1876.  It  includes  no  less  than  540 
individuals  of  Jukes  blood,  of  whom  a  frightful  num- 
ber degraded  into  criminality,  pauperism,  or  disease. 


64  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

It  is  difficult  to  summarise  the  results  in  a  few- 
plain  figures,  but  I  will  state  those  respecting  the 
fifth  generation,  through  the  eldest  of  the  five  pro- 
lific daughters  of  the  man  who  is  the  common  ancestor 
of  the  race.  The  total  number  of  these  was  123,  of 
whom  thirty  -  eight  came  through  an  illegitimate 
granddaughter,  and  eighty -five  through  legitimate 
grandchildren.  Out  of  the  thirty-eight,  sixteen  have 
been  in  jail,  six  of  them  for  heinous  offences,  one  of 
these  having  been  committed  no  less  than  nine  times ; 
eleven  others  led  openly  disreputable  lives  or  were 
paupers  ;  four  were  notoriously  intemperate  ;  the  his- 
tory of  three  had  not  been  traced,  and  only  four 
are  known  to  have  done  wrell.  The  great  majority 
of  the  women  consorted  with  criminals.  As  to  the 
eighty-five  legitimate  descendants,  they  were  less 
flagrantly  bad,  for  only  five  of  them  had  been  in  jail, 
and  only  thirteen  others  had  been  paupers.  Now  the 
ancestor  of  all  this  mischief,  who  was  born  about  the 
year  1730,  is  described  as  having  been  a  jolly  com- 
panionable man,  a  hunter,  and  a  fisher,  averse  to 
steady  labour,  but  working  hard  and  idling  by  turns, 
and  who  had  numerous  illegitimate  children,  whose 
issue  has  not  been  traced.  He  was,  in  fact,  a  some- 
what good  specimen  of  a  half- savage,  without  any 
seriously  criminal  instincts.  The  girls  were  appa- 
rently attractive,  marrying  early  and  sometimes  not 
badly ;  but  the  gipsy-like  character  of  the  race  was 
unsuited  to  success  in  a  civilised  country.  So  the 
descendants  went  to  the  bad,  and  such  hereditary 
moral  weaknesses  as  they  may  have  had,  rose  to  the 


CRIMINALS    AND    THE    INSANE.  65 

surface  and  worked  their  mischief  without  check. 
Cohabiting  with  criminals,  and  being  extremely  pro- 
lific, the  result  was  the  production  of  a  stock  exceed- 
ing 500  in  number,  of  a  prevalent  criminal  type. 
Through  disease  and  intemperance  the  breed  is  now 
rapidly  diminishing ;  the  infant  mortality  has  of  late 
been  horrible,  but  fortunately  the  women  of  the 
present  generation  bear  usually  but  few  children, 
and  many  of  them  are  altogether  childless. 

The  criminal  classes  contain  a  considerable  portion 
of  epileptics  and  other  persons  of  instable,  emotional 
temperament,  subject  to  nervous  explosions  that  burst 
out  at  intervals  and  relieve  the  system.  The  mad 
outbreaks  of  women  in  convict  prisons  is  a  most 
curious  phenomenon.  Some  of  them  are  apt  from 
time  to  time  to  have  a  gradually  increasing  desire 
that  at  last  becomes  irresistible,  to  "break  out,"  as 
it  is  technically  called ;  that  is,  to  smash  and  tear 
everything  they  can  within  reach,  and  to  shriek, 
curse,  and  howl.  At  length  the  fit  expends  itself; 
the  devil,  as  it  were,  leaves  them,  and  they  begin  to 
behave  again  in  their  ordinary  way.  The  highest 
form  of  emotional  instability  exists  in  confirmed 
epilepsy,  where  its  manifestations  have  often  been 
studied  ;  it  is  found  in  a  high  but  somewhat  less 
extraordinary  degree  in  the  hysterical  and  allied 
affections.  In  the  confirmed  epileptic  constitution 
the  signs  of  general  instability  of  nervous  action  are 
muscular  convulsions,  irregularities  of  bodily  temper- 
ature, mobile  intellectual  activity,  and  extraordinary 

F 


66  INQUIRIES    INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

oscillations  between  opposed  emotional  states.  I  am 
assured  by  excellent  authority  that  instable  manifesta- 
tions of  extreme  piety  and  of  extreme  vice  are  almost 
invariably  shown  by  epileptics,  and  should  be  re- 
garded as  a  prominent  feature  of  their  peculiar  con- 
stitution. These  unfortunate  beings  see  no  incon- 
gruity between  the  pious  phrases  that  they  pour  out 
at  one  moment  and  their  vile  and  obscene  language 
in  the  next ;  neither  do  they  show  repentance  for  past 
misconduct  when  they  are  convicted  of  crimes,  how- 
ever abominable  these  may  be.  They  are  creatures 
of  the  moment,  possessing  no  inhibitory  check  upon 
their  desires  and  emotions,  which  drive  them  head- 
long hither  and  thither. 

Madness  is  often  associated  with  epilepsy  ;  in  all 
cases  it  is  a  frightful  and  hereditary  disfigurement  of 
humanity,  which  appears,  from  the  upshot  of  various 
conflicting  accounts,  to  be  on  the  increase.  The 
neurotic  constitution  from  which  it  springs  is  how- 
ever not  without  its  merits,  as  has  been  well  pointed 
out,  since  a  large  proportion  of  the  enthusiastic  men 
and  women  to  whose  labour  the  world  is  largely 
indebted,  have  had  that  constitution,  judging  from 
the  fact  that  insanity  existed  in  their  families. 

The  phases  of  extreme  piety  and  extreme  vice 
which  so  rapidly  succeed  one  another  in  the  same 
individual  among  the  epileptics,  are  more  widely 
separated  among  those  who  are  simply  insane.  It 
has  been  noticed  that  among  the  morbid  organic 
conditions  which  accompany  the  show  of  excessive 


CRIMINALS    AND   THE   INSANE.  67 

piety  and  religious  rapture  in  the  insane,  none  are 
so  frequent  as  disorders  of  the  sexual  organisation. 
Conversely,  the  frenzies  of  religious  revivals  have  not 
unfrequently  ended  in  gross  profligacy.  The  encour- 
agement of  celibacy  by  the  fervent  leaders  of  most 
creeds,  utilises  in  an  unconscious  way  the  morbid 
connection  between  an  over-restraint  of  the  sexual 
desires  and  impulses  towards  extreme  devotion. 

Another  remarkable  phase  among  the  insane  con- 
sists in  strange  views  about  their  individuality. 
They  think  that  their  body  is  made  of  glass,  or  that 
their  brains  have  literally  disappeared,  or  that  there  are 
different  persons  inside  them,  or  that  they  are  some- 
body else,  and  so  forth.  It  is  said  that  this  phase 
is  most  commonly  associated  with  morbid  disturb- 
ance of  the  alimentary  organs.  So  in  many  religions 
fasting  has  been  used  as  an  agent  for  detaching  the 
thoughts  from  the  body  and  for  inducing  ecstasy. 

There  is  yet  a  third  peculiarity  of  the  insane  which 
is  almost  universal,  that  of  gloomy  segregation. 
Passengers  nearing  London  by  the  Great  Western 
Railway  must  have  frequently  remarked  the  unusual 
appearance  of  the  crowd  of  lunatics  when  taking  their 
exercise  in  the  large  green  enclosure  in  front  of  Han- 
well  Asylum.  They  almost  without  exception  walk 
apart  in  moody  isolation,  each  in  his  own  way,  buried 
in  his  own  thoughts.  It  is  a  scene  like  that  fabled  in 
Yathek's  hall  of  Eblis.  I  am  assured  that  whenever 
two  are  seen  in  company,  it  is  either  because  their 
attacks  of  madness  are  of  an  intermittent  and  epileptic 
character  and  they  are  temporarily  sane,  or  otherwise 


68  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

that  they  are  near  recovery.  Conversely,  the  curative 
influence  of  social  habits  is  fully  recognised,  and  they 
are  promoted  by  festivities  in  the  asylums.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  great  teachers  of  all  creeds  have  made 
seclusion  a  prominent  religious  exercise.  In  short, 
by  enforcing  celibacy,  fasting,  and  solitude,  they  have 
done  their  best  towards  making  men  mad,  and  they 
have  always  largely  succeeded  in  inducing  morbid 
mental  conditions  among  their  followers. 

Floods  of  light  are  thrown  upon  various  incidents 
of  devotee  life,  and  also  upon  the  disgusting  and  not 
otherwise  intelligible  character  of  the  sanctimonious 
scoundrel,  by  the  everyday  experiences  of  the  mad- 
house. No  professor  of  metaphysics,  psychology,  or 
religion  can  claim  to  know  the  elements  of  what  he 
teaches,  unless  he  is  acquainted  with  the  ordinary 
phenomena  of  idiocy,  madness,  and  epilepsy.  He 
must  study  the  manifestations  of  disease  and  con- 
genital folly,  as  well  as  those  of  sanity  and  high 
intellect. 

Gregarious  and  Slavish  Instincts. 

I  propose  in  this  chapter  to  discuss  a  curious  and 
apparently  anomalous  group  of  base  moral  instincts 
and  intellectual  deficiencies,  that  are  innate  rather 
than  acquired,  by  tracing  their  analogies  in  the 
world  of  brutes  and  examining  the  conditions 
through  which  they  have  been  evolved.  They  are 
the  slavish  aptitudes  from  which  the  leaders  of  men 
are  exempt,  but  which  are  characteristic  elements  in 


GREGARIOUS   AND   SLAVISH   INSTINCTS.  69 

the  disposition  of  ordinary  persons.  The  vast  majority 
of  persons  of  our  race  have  a  natural  tendency  to 
shrink  from  the  responsibility  of  standing  and  acting 
alone ;  they  exalt  the  vox  populi,  even  when  they 
know  it  to  be  the  utterance  of  a  mob  of  nobodies,  into 
the  vox  Dei,  and  they  are  willing  slaves  to  tradition, 
authority,  and  custom.  The  intellectual  deficiencies 
corresponding  to  these  moral  flaws  are  shown  by  the 
rareness  of  free  and  original  thought  as  compared  with 
the  frequency  and  readiness  with  which  men  accept 
the  opinions  of  those  in  authority  as  binding  on  their 
judgment.  I  shall  endeavour  to  prove  that  the 
slavish  aptitudes  in  man  are  a  direct  consequence  of 
his  gregarious  nature,  which  itself  is  a  result  of  the 
conditions  both  of  his  primeval  barbarism  and  of  the 
forms  of  his  subsequent  civilisation.  My  argument 
will  be,  that  gregarious  brute  animals  possess  a  want 
of  self-reliance  in  a  marked  degree  ;  that  the  condi- 
tions of  the  lives  of  these  animals  have  made  a  want 
of  self-reliance  a  necessity  to  them,  and  that  by  the 
law  of  natural  selection  the  gregarious  instincts  and 
their  accompanying  slavish  aptitudes  have  gradually 
become  evolved.  Then  I  shall  argue  that  our  remote 
ancestors  have  lived  under  parallel  conditions,  and 
that  other  causes  peculiar  to  human  society  have  acted 
up  to  the  present  day  in  the  same  direction,  and  that 
we  have  inherited  the  gregarious  instincts  and  slavish 
aptitudes  which  have  been  needed  under  past  circum- 
stances, although  in  our  advancing  civilisation  they 
are  becoming  of  more  harm  than  good  to  our  race. 
It  was  my  fortune,   in  earlier  life,   to   gain   an 


70  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

intimate  knowledge  of  certain  classes  of  gregarious 
animals.  The  urgent  need  of  the  camel  for  the  close 
companionship  of  his  fellows  was  a  never -exhausted 
topic  of  curious  admiration  to  me  during  tedious  days 
of  travel  across  many  North  African  deserts.  I  also 
happened  to  hear  and  read  a  great  deal  about  the  still 
more  marked  gregarious  instincts  of  the  llama ;  but 
the  social  animal  into  whose  psychology  I  am  con- 
scious of  having  penetrated  most  thoroughly  is  the  ox 
of  the  wild  parts  of  western  South  Africa.  It  is 
necessary  to  insist  upon  the  epithet  "wild,"  because 
an  ox  of  tamed  parentage  has  different  natural  in- 
stincts ;  for  instance,  an  English  ox  is  far  less  gre- 
garious than  those  I  am  about  to  describe,  and  affords 
a  proportionately  less  valuable  illustration  to  my 
argument.  The  oxen  of  which  I  speak  belonged  to 
the  Damaras,  and  none  of  the  ancestry  of  these  cattle 
had  ever  been  broken  to  harness.  They  were  watched 
from  a  distance  during  the  day,  as  they  roamed  about 
the  open  country,  and  at  night  they  were  driven  with 
cries  to  enclosures,  into  which  they  rushed  much  like 
a  body  of  terrified  wild  animals  driven  by  huntsmen 
into  a  trap.  Their  scared  temper  was  such  as  to 
make  it  impossible  to  lay  hold  of  them  by  other 
means  than  by  driving  the  whole  herd  into  a  clump, 
and  lassoing  the  leg  of  the  animal  it  was  desired  to 
seize,  and  throwing  him  to  the  ground  with  dexterous 
force.  With  oxen  and  cows  of  this  description,  whose 
nature  is  no  doubt  shared  by  the  bulls,  I  spent  more 
than  a  year  in  the  closest  companionship. 

I  had  nearly  a  hundred  of  the  beasts  broken  in  for 


GREGARIOUS   AND    SLAVISH   INSTINCTS.  71 

the  waggon,  for  packs,  and  for  the  saddle.  I  travelled 
an  entire  journey  of  exploration  on  the  back  of  one 
of  them,  with  others  by  my  side,  either  labouring  at 
their  tasks  or  walking  at  leisure ;  and  with  others 
again  who  were  wholly  unbroken,  and  who  served  the 
purpose  of  an  itinerant  larder.  At  night,  when  there 
had  been  no  time  to  erect  an  enclosure  to  hold  them, 
1  lay  down  in  their  midst,  and  it  was  interesting  to 
observe  how  readily  they  then  availed  themselves  of 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  camp  fire  and  of  man,  con- 
scious of  the  protection  they  afforded  from  prowling 
carnivora,  whose  cries  and  roars,  now  distant,  now 
near,  continually  broke  upon  the  stillness.  These 
opportunities  of  studying  the  disposition  of  such  pe- 
culiar cattle  were  not  wasted  upon  me.  I  had  only 
too  much  leisure  to  think  about  them,  and  the  habits 
of  the  animals  strongly  attracted  my  curiosity.  The 
better  I  understood  them,  the  more  complex  and 
worthy  of  study  did  their  minds  appear  to  be.  But 
I  am  now  concerned  only  with  their  blind  gregarious 
instincts,  which  are  conspicuously  distinct  from  the 
ordinary  social  desires.  In  the  latter  they  are  de- 
ficient ;  thus  they  are  not  amiable  to  one  another,  but 
show  on  the  whole  more  expressions  of  spite  and  dis- 
gust than  of  forbearance  or  fondness.  They  do  not 
suffer  from  an  ennui,  which  society  can  remove,  be- 
cause their  coarse  feeding  and  their  ruminant  habits 
make  them  somewhat  stolid.  Neither  can  they  love 
society,  as  monkeys  do,  for  the  opportunities  it  affords 
of  a  fuller  and  more  varied  life,  because  they  remain 
self-absorbed  in  the  middle  of  their  herd,  while  the 


72  INQUIRIES    INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

monkeys  revel  together  in  frolics,  scrambles,  fights, 
loves,  and  chatterings.  Yet  although  the  ox  has  so 
little  affection  for,  or  individual  interest  in,  his  fellows, 
he  cannot  endure  even  a  momentary  severance  from 
his  herd.  If  he  be  separated  from  it  by  stratagem  or 
force,  he  exhibits  every  sign  of  mental  agony ;  he 
strives  with  all  his  might  to  get  back  again,  and  when 
he  succeeds,  he  plunges  into  its  middle  to  bathe  his 
whole  body  with  the  comfort  of  closest  companionship. 
This  passionate  terror  at  segregation  is  a  convenience 
to  the  herdsman,  who  may  rest  assured  in  the  dark- 
ness or  in  the  mist  that  the  whole  herd  is  safe  when- 
ever he  can  get  a  glimpse  of  a  single  ox.  It  is  also 
the  cause  of  great  inconvenience  to  the  traveller  in 
ox- waggons,  who  constantly  feels  himself  in  a  position 
towards  his  oxen  like  that  of  a  host  to  a  company  of 
bashful  gentlemen  at  the  time  when  he  is  trying  to  get 
them  to  move  from  the  drawing-room  to  the  dinner- 
table,  and  no  one  will  go  first,  but  every  one  backs 
and  gives  place  to  his  neighbour.  The  traveller  finds 
great  difficulty  in  procuring  animals  capable  of  acting 
the  part  of  fore-oxen  to  his  team,  the  ordinary  mem- 
bers of  the  wild  herd  being  wholly  unfitted  by  nature 
to  move  in  so  prominent  and  isolated  a  position,  even 
though,  as  is  the  custom,  a  boy  is  always  in  front  to 
persuade  or  pull  them  onwards.  Therefore,  a  good 
fore -ox  is  an  animal  of  an  exceptionally  indepen- 
dent disposition.  Men  who  break  in  wild  cattle 
for  harness  watch  assiduously  for  those  who  show 
a  self-reliant  nature,  by  grazing  apart  or  ahead  of  the 
rest,  and  these  they  break  in  for  fore -oxen.      The 


GREGARIOUS   AND   SLAVISH   INSTINCTS.  73 

other  cattle  may  be  indifferently  devoted  to  ordinary 
harness  purposes,  or  to  slaughter ;  but  the  born 
leaders  are  far  too  rare  to  be  used  for  any  less  dis- 
tinguished service  than  that  which  they  alone  are 
capable  of  fulfilling.  But  a  still  more  exceptional 
degree  of  merit  may  sometimes  be  met  with  among 
the  many  thousands  of  Damara  cattle.  It  is  possible 
to  find  an  ox  who  may  be  ridden,  not  indeed  as  freely 
as  a  horse,  for  I  have  never  heard  of  a  feat  like  that, 
but  at  all  events  wholly  apart  from  the  companionship 
of  others  ;  and  an  accomplished  rider  will  even  succeed 
in  urging  him  out  at  a  trot  from  the  very  middle  of 
his  fellows.  With  respect  to  the  negative  side  of  the 
scale,  though  I  do  not  recollect  definite  instances,  I 
can  recall  general  impressions  of  oxen  showing  a  de- 
ficiency from  the  average  ox  standard  of  self-reliance, 
about  equal  to  the  excess  of  that  quality  found  in 
ordinary  fore-oxen.  Thus  I  recollect  there  were  some 
cattle  of  a  peculiarly  centripetal  instinct,  who  ran 
more  madly  than  the  rest  into  the  middle  of  the  herd 
when  they  were  frightened ;  and  I  have  no  reason  to 
doubt  from  general  recollections  that  the  law  of  devia- 
tion from  an  average  would  be  as  applicable  to  inde- 
pendence of  character  among  cattle  as  one  might 
expect  it  theoretically  to  be.  The  conclusion  to 
which  we  are  driven  is,  that  few  of  the  Damara  cattle 
have  enough  originality  and  independence  of  dispo- 
sition to  pass  unaided  through  their  daily  risks  in  a 
tolerably  comfortable  manner.  They  are  essentially 
slavish,  and  seek  no  better  lot  than  to  be  led  by  any 
one  of  their  number  who  has  enough  self-reliance  to 


74  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

accept  that  position.  No  ox  ever  dares  to  act  contrary 
to  the  rest  of  the  herd,  but  he  accepts  their  common 
determination  as  an  authority  binding  on  his  con- 
science. 

An  incapacity  of  relying  on  oneself  and  a  faith  in 
others  are  precisely  the  conditions  that  compel  brutes 
to  congregate  and  live  in  herds ;  and,  again,  it  is  essen- 
tial to  their  safety  in  a  country  infested  by  large 
carnivora,  that  they  should  keep  closely  together  in 
herds.  No  ox  grazing  alone  could  live  for  many  days 
unless  he  were  protected,  far  more  assiduously  and 
closely  than  is  possible  to  barbarians.  The  Damara 
owners  confide  perhaps  200  cattle  to  a  couple  of  half- 
starved  youths,  who  pass  their  time  in  dozing  or  in 
grubbing  up  roots  to  eat.  The  owners  know  that  it 
is  hopeless  to  protect  the  herd  from  lions,  so  they 
leave  it  to  take  its  chance ;  and  as  regards  human 
marauders  they  equally  know  that  the  largest  number 
of  cattle  watchers  they  could  spare  could  make  no 
adequate  resistance  to  an  attack ;  they  therefore  do 
not  send  more  than  two,  who  are  enough  to  run  home 
and  give  the  alarm  to  the  whole  male  population  of 
the  tribe  to  run  in  arms  on  the  tracks  of  their  plun- 
dered property.  Consequently,  as  I  began  by  saying, 
the  cattle  have  to  take  care  of  themselves  against  the 
wild  beasts,  and  they  would  infallibly  be  destroyed  by 
them  if  they  had  not  safeguards  of  their  own,  which 
are  not  easily  to  be  appreciated  at  first  sight  at  their 
full  value.  We  shall  understand  them  better  by  con- 
sidering the  precise  nature  of  the  danger  that  an  ox 


GREGARIOUS    AND    SLAVISH    INSTINCTS.  75 

runs.  When  lie  is  alone  it  is  not  simply  that  he  is 
too  defenceless,  but  that  he  is  easily  surprised.  A 
crouching  lion  fears  cattle  who  turn  boldly  upon  him, 
and  he  does  so  with  reason.  The  horns  of  an  ox  or 
antelope  are  able  to  make  an  ugly  wound  in  the  paw 
or  chest  of  a  springing  beast  when  he  receives  its 
thrust  in  the  same  way  that  an  over-eager  pugilist 
meets  his  adversary's  "  counter "  hit.  Hence  it  is 
that  a  cow  who  has  calved  by  the  wayside,  and  has 
been  temporarily  abandoned  by  the  caravan,  is  never 
seized  by  lions.  The  incident  frequently  occurs,  and 
as  frequently  are  the  cow  and  calf  eventually  brought 
safe  to  the  camp ;  and  yet  there  is  usually  evidence 
in  footprints  of  her  having  sustained  a  regular  siege 
from  the  wild  beasts  ;  but  she  is  so  restless  and  eager 
for  the  safety  of  her  young  that  no  beast  of  prey  can 
approach  her  unawares.  This  state  of  exaltation 
is  of  course  exceptional ;  cattle  are  obliged  in  their 
ordinary  course  of  life  to  spend  a  considerable  part  of 
the  day  with  their  heads  buried  in  the  grass,  where 
they  can  neither  see  nor  smell  what  is  about  them.  A 
still  larger  part  of  their  time  must  be  spent  in  placid 
rumination,  during  which  they  cannot  possibly  be  on 
the  alert.  But  a  herd  of  such  animals,  when  con- 
sidered as  a  whole,  is  always  on  the  alert ;  at  almost 
every  moment  some  eyes,  ears,  and  noses  will  com- 
mand all  approaches,  and  the  start  or  cry  of  alarm  of 
a  single  beast  is  a  signal  to  all  his  companions.  To 
live  gregariously  is  to  become  a  fibre  in  a  vast  sentient 
web  overspreading  many  acres  ;  it  is  to  become  the 
possessor  of  faculties  always  awake,  of  eyes  that  see  in 


76  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

all  directions,  of  ears  and  nostrils  that  explore  a  broad 
belt  of  air  ;  it  is  also  to  become  the  occupier  of  every 
bit  of  vantage  ground  whence  the  approach  of  a  wild 
beast  might  be  overlooked.  The  protective  senses  of 
each  individual  who  chooses  to  live  in  companionship 
are  multiplied  by  a  large  factor,  and  he  thereby  re- 
ceives a  maximum  of  security  at  a  minimum  cost  of 
restlessness.  When  we  isolate  an  animal  who  has 
been  accustomed  to  a  gregarious  life,  we  take  away 
his  sense  of  protection,  for  he  feels  himself  exposed 
to  danger  from  every  part  of  the  circle  around 
him,  except  the  one  point  on  which  his  attention  is 
momentarily  fixed ;  and  he  knows  that  disaster  may 
easily  creep  up  to  him  from  behind.  Consequently 
his  glance  is  restless  and  anxious,  and  is  turned  in 
succession  to  different  quarters ;  his  movements  are 
hurried  and  agitated,  and  he  becomes  a  prey  to  the 
extremest  terror.  There  can  be  no  room  for  doubt 
that  it  is  suitable  to  the  wellbeing  of  cattle  in  a 
country  infested  with  beasts  of  prey  to  live  in  close 
companionship,  and  being  suitable,  it  follows  from 
the  law  of  natural  selection  that  the  development  of 
gregarious  and  therefore  of  slavish  instincts  must  be 
favoured  in  such  cattle.  It  also  follows  from  the 
same  law  that  the  degree  in  which  those  instincts  are 
developed  is  on  the  whole  the  most  conducive  to  their 
safety.  If  they  were  more  gregarious  they  would 
crowd  so  closely  as  to  interfere  with  each  other  when 
grazing  the  scattered  pasture  of  Damara  land  ;  if  less 
gregarious,  they  would  be  too  widely  scattered  to 
keep  a  sufficient  watch  against  the  wild  beasts. 


GREGARIOUS    AND    SLAVISH    INSTINCTS.  77 

I  now  proceed  to  consider  more  particularly  why 
the  range  of  deviation  from  the  average  is  such 
that  we  find  about  one  ox  out  of  fifty  to  possess 
sufficient  independence,  of  character  to  serve  as  a 
pretty  good  fore-ox  ?  Why  is  it  not  one  in  five  or 
one  in  five  hundred  1  The  reason  undoubtedly  is 
that  natural  selection  tends  to  give  but  one  leader 
to  each  suitably -sized  herd,  and  to  repress  super- 
abundant leaders.  There  is  a  certain  size  of  herd 
most  suitable  to  the  geographical  and  other  condi- 
tions of  the  country ;  it  must  not  be  too  large,  or 
the  scattered  puddles  which  form  their  only  water- 
ing places  for  a  great  part  of  the  year  would  not 
suffice  ;  and  there  are  similar  drawbacks  in  respect  to 
pasture.  It  must  not  be  too  small,  or  it  would  be 
comparatively  insecure ;  thus  a  troop  of  five  animals 
is  far  more  easy  to  be  approached  by  a  stalking  hunts- 
man than  one  of  twenty,  and  the  latter  than  one  of 
a  hundred.  We  have  seen  that  it  is  the  oxen  who 
graze  apart,  as  well  as  those  who  lead  the  herd,  who 
are  recognised  by  the  trainers  of  cattle  as  gifted  with 
enough  independence  of  character  to  become  fore- 
oxen.  They  are  even  preferred  to  the  actual  leaders 
of  the  herd ;  they  dare  to  move  more  alone,  and  there- 
fore their  independence  is  undoubted.  The  leaders 
are  safe  enough  from  lions,  because  their  flanks  and 
rear  are  guarded  by  their  followers  ;  but  each  of  those 
who  graze  apart,  and  who  represent  the  superabundant 
supply  of  self-reliant  animals,  have  one  flank  and  the 
rear  exposed,  and  it  is  precisely  these  whom  the  lions 
take.     Looking  at  the  matter  in  a  broad  way,  we  may 


78  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

justly  assert  that  wild  beasts  trim  and  prune  every 
herd  into  compactness,  and  tend  to  reduce  it  into 
a  closely- united  body  with  a  single  well -protected 
leader.  That  the  development  of  independence  of 
character  in  cattle  is  thus  suppressed  below  its 
otherwise  natural  standard  by  the  influence  of  wild 
beasts,  is  shown  by  the  greater  display  of  self-reliance 
among  cattle  whose  ancestry  for  some  generations 
have  not  been  exposed  to  such  danger. 

What  has  been  said  about  cattle,  in  relation  to 
wild  beasts,  applies  with  more  or  less  obvious  modifi- 
cations to  barbarians  in  relation  to  their  neighbours, 
but  I  insist  on  a  close  resemblance  in  the  particular 
circumstance,  that  many  savages  are  so  unamiable  and 
morose  as  to  have  hardly  any  object  in  associating 
together,  besides  that  of  mutual  support.  If  we  look 
at  the  inhabitants  of  the  very  same  country  as  the 
oxen  I  have  described,  we  shall  find  them  congregated 
into  multitudes  of  tribes,  all  more  or  less  at  war  with 
one  another.  We  shall  find  that  few  of  these  tribes 
are  very  small,  and  few  very  large,  and  that  it  is  pre- 
cisely those  that  are  exceptionally  large  or  small  whose 
condition  is  the  least  stable.  A  very  small  tribe  is 
sure  to  be  overthrown,  slaughtered,  or  driven  into 
slavery  by  its  more  powerful  neighbour.  A  very  large 
tribe  falls  to  pieces  through  its  own  unwieldiness,  be- 
cause, by  the  nature  of  things,  it  must  be  either  defi- 
cient in  centralisation  or  straitened  in  food,  or  both. 
A  barbarian  population  is  obliged  to  live  dispersedly, 
since  a  square  mile  of  land  will  support  only  a  few 
hunters  or  shepherds ;  on  the  other  hand,  a  barbarian 


GREGARIOUS   AND    SLAVISH    INSTINCTS.  79 

government  cannot  be  long  maintained  unless  the  cliief 
is  brought  into  frequent  contact  with  his  dependants, 
and  this  is  geographically  impossible  when  his  tribe  is 
so  scattered  as  to  cover  a  great  extent  of  territory. 
The  law  of  selection  must  discourage  every  race  of 
barbarians  which  supplies  self-reliant  individuals  in 
such  large  numbers  as  to  cause  tribes  of  moderate  size  to 
lose  their  blind  desire  of  aggregation.  It  must  equally 
discourage  a  breed  that  is  incompetent  to  supply  such 
men  in  a  sufficiently  abundant  ratio  to  the  rest  of  the 
population  to  ensure  the  existence  of  tribes  of  not  too 
large  a  size.  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  gregarious 
instincts  are  equally  important  to  all  forms  of  savage 
life  ;  but  I  hold,  from  what  we  know  of  the  clannish 
fighting  habits  of  our  forefathers,  that  they  were 
every  whit  as  applicable  to  the  earlier  ancestors  of 
our  European  stock  as  they  are  still  to  a  large  part 
of  the  black  population  of  Africa. 

There  is,  moreover,  an  extraordinary  power  of 
tyranny  invested  in  the  chiefs  of  tribes  and  nations 
of  men,  that  so  vastly  outweighs  the  analogous  power 
possessed  by  the  leaders  of  animal  herds  as  to  rank 
as  a  special  attribute  of  human  society,  eminentlv 
conducive  to  slavishness.  If  any  brute  in  a  herd 
makes  itself  obnoxious  to  the  leader,  the  leader  attacks 
him,  and  there  is  a  free  fight  between  the  two,  the 
other  animals  looking  on  the  while.  But  if  a  man 
makes  himself  obnoxious  to  his  chief,  he  is  attacked, 
not  by  the  chief  single-handed,  but  by  the  overpower- 
ing force  of  his  executive.  The  rebellious  individual 
has  to  brave  a  disciplined  host ;  there  are  spies  who 


80  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

will  report  his  doings,  a  local  authority  who  will  send 
a  detachment  of  soldiers  to  drag  him  to  trial ;  there  are 
prisons  ready  built  to  hold  him,  civil  authorities  wield- 
ing legal  powers  of  stripping  him  of  all  his  possessions, 
and  official  executioners  prepared  to  torture  or  kill  him. 
The  tyrannies  under  which  men  have  lived,  whether 
under  rude  barbarian  chiefs,  under  the  great  despotisms 
of  half-civilised  Oriental  countries,  or  under  some  of 
the  more  polished  but  little  less  severe  governments 
of  modern  days,  must  have  had  a  frightful  influence  in 
eliminating  independence  of  character  from  the  human 
race.  Think  of  Austria,  of  Naples,  and  even  of  France 
under  Napoleon  III.  It  was  stated1  in  1870  that, 
according  to  papers  found  at  the  Tuileries,  26,642 
persons  had  been  arrested  in  France  for  political 
offences  since  2d  December,  1851,  and  that  14,118 
had  been  transported,  exiled,  or  detained  in  prison. 

I  have  already  spoken  in  Hereditary  Genius  of 
the  large  effects  of  religious  persecution  in  compara- 
tively recent  years,  on  the  natural  character  of  races, 
and  shall  not  say  more  about  it  here ;  but  it  must 
not  be  omitted  from  the  list  of  steady  influences  con- 
tinuing through  ancient  historical  times  down,  in 
some  degree,  to  the  present  day,  in  destroying  the 
self-reliant,  and  therefore  the  nob>ler  races  of  men. 

I  hold  that  the  blind  instincts  evolved  under  these 
long-continued  conditions  have  been  ingrained  into 
our  breed,  and  that  they  are  a  bar  to  our  enjoying  the 
freedom  which  the  forms  of  modern  civilisation  are 
otherwise  capable  of  giving  us.     A  really  intelligent 

1  Daily  News,  17th  October  1870. 


GREGAKIOUS    AND    SLAVISH    INSTINCTS.  81 

nation  might  be  held  together  by  far  stronger  forces 
than  are  derived  from  the  purely  gregarious  instincts. 
A  nation  need  not  be  a  mob  of  slaves,  clinging  to  one 
another  through  fear,  and  for  the  most  part  incapable 
of  self-government,  and  begging  to  be  led ;  but  it  might 
consist  of  vigorous  self-reliant  men,  knit  to  one  another 
by  innumerable  ties,  into  a  strong,  tense,  and  elastic 
organisation. 

The  character  of  the  corporate  action  of  a  nation 
in  which  each  man  judges  for  himself,  might  be 
expected  to  possess  statistical  constancy.  It  would 
be  the  expression  of  the  dominant  character  of  a  large 
number  of  separate  members  of  the  same  race,  and 
ought  therefore  to  be  remarkably  uniform.  Fickleness 
of  national  character  is  principally  due  to  the  several 
members  of  the  nation  exercising  no  independent 
judgment,  but  allowing  themselves  to  be  led  hither 
and  thither  by  the  successive  journalists,  orators,  and 
sentimentalists  who  happen  for  the  time  to  have  the 
chance  of  directing  them. 

Our  present  natural  dispositions  make  it  impossible 
for  us  to  attain  the  ideal  standard  of  a  nation  of  men 
all  judging  soberly  for  themselves,  and  therefore  the 
slavishness  of  the  mass  of  our  countrymen,  in  morals 
and  intellect,  must  be  an  admitted  fact  in  all  schemes 
of  regenerative  policy. 

The  hereditary  taint  due  to  the  primeval  barbarism 
of  our  race,  and  maintained  by  later  influences,  will 
have  to  be  bred  out  of  it  before  our  descendants  can 
rise  to  the  position  of  free  members  of  an  intelligent 

G 


82  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

society ;  and  I  may  add  that  the  most  likely  nest  at 
the  present  time  for  self-reliant  natures  is  to  be  found 
in  States  founded  and  maintained  by  emigrants. 

Servility  has  its  romantic  side,  in  the  utter  devo- 
tion of  a  slave  to  the  lightest  wishes  and  the  smallest 
comforts  of  his  master,  and  in  that  of  a  loyal  subject 
to  those  of  his  sovereign  ;  but  such  devotion  cannot  be 
called  a  reasonable  self-sacrifice ;  it  is  rather  an  abne- 
gation of  the  trust  imposed  on  man  to  use  his  best 
judgment,  and  to  act  in  the  way  he  thinks  the  wisest. 
Trust  in  authority  is  a  trait  of  the  character  of  children, 
of  weakly  women,  and  of  the  sick  and  infirm,  but  it  is 
out  of  place  among  members  of  a  thriving  resolute 
community  during  the  fifty  or  more  years  of  their 
middle  life.  Those  who  have  been  born  in  a  free 
country  feel  the  atmosphere  of  a  paternal  government 
very  oppressive.  The  hearty  and  earnest  political  and 
individual  life  which  is  found  when  every  man  has  a 
continual  sense  of  public  responsibility,  and  knows  that 
success  depends  on  his  own  right  judgment  and  exer- 
tion, is  replaced  under  a  despotism  by  an  indolent 
reliance  upon  what  its  master  may  direct,  and  by  a 
demoralising  conviction  that  personal  advancement  is 
best  secured  by  solicitations  and  favour. 

Intellectual  Differences. 

It  is  needless  for  me  to  speak  here  about  the 
differences  in  intellectual  power  between  different  men 
and    different  races,  or   about   the    convertibility  of 


MENTAL    IMAGERY.  83 

genius  as  shown  by  different  members  of  the  same 
gifted  family  achieving  eminence  in  varied  ways, 
as  I  have  already  written  at  length  on  these  subjects 
in  Hereditary  Genius  and  in  Antecedents  of  English 
Men  of  Science.  It  is,  however,  well  to  remark  that 
during  the  fourteen  years  that  have  elapsed  since  the 
former  book  was  published,  numerous  fresh  instances 
have  arisen  of  distinction  being  attained  by  members 
of  the  gifted  families  whom  I  quoted  as  instances  of 
heredity,  thus  strengthening  my  arguments. 

Mental  Imagery. 

Anecdotes  find  their  way  into  print,  from  time  to 
time,  of  persons  whose  visual  memory  is  so  clear  and 
sharp  as  to  present  mental  pictures  that  may  be 
scrutinised  with  nearly  as  much  ease  and  prolonged 
attention  as  if  they  were  real  objects.  I  became 
interested  in  the  subject  and  made  a  rather  extensive 
inquiry  into  the  mode  of  visual  presentation  in  differ- 
ent persons,  so  far  as  could  be  gathered  from  their 
respective  statements.  It  seemed  to  me  that  the 
results  might  illustrate  the  essential  differences  be- 
tween the  mental  operations  of  different  men,  that 
they  might  give  some  clue  to  the  origin  of  visions, 
and  that  the  course  of  the  inquiry  might  reveal  some 
previously  unnoticed  facts.  It  has  done  all  this 
more  or  less,  and  I  will  explain  the  results  in  the 
present  and  in  the  three  following  chapters. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  trouble  the  reader  with  my 
earlier  tentative  steps  to  find  out  what  I  desired  to 


84  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

learn.  After  the  inquiry  had  been  fairly  started  it 
took  the  form  of  submitting  a  certain  number  of 
printed  questions  to  a  large  number  of  persons  (see 
Appendix  F).  There  is  hardly  any  more  difficult  task 
than  that  of  framing  questions  which  are  not  likely 
to  be  misunderstood,  which  admit  of  easy  reply,  and 
which  cover  the  ground  of  inquiry.  I  did  my  best 
in  these  respects,  without  forgetting  the  most  import- 
ant part  of  all — namely,  to  tempt  my  correspondents 
to  write  freely  in  fuller  explanation  of  their  replies, 
and  on  cognate  topics  as  well.  These  separate  letters 
have  proved  more  instructive  and  interesting  by  far 
than  the  replies  to  the  set  questions. 

The  first  group  of  the  rather  long  series  of  queries 
related  to  the  illumination,  definition,  and  colouring 
of  the  mental  image,  and  were  framed  thus  : — 

"  Before  addressing  yourself  to  any  of  the  Questions  on  the 
opposite  page,  think  of  some  definite  object — suppose  it  is  your 
breakfast-table  as  you  sat  down  to  it  this  morning — and  con- 
sider carefully  the  picture  that  rises  before  your  mind's  eye. 

1.  Illumination. — Is  the  image  dim  or  fairly  clear  ?  Is  its 
brightness  comparable  to  that  of  the  actual  scene  1 

2.  Definition. — Are  all  the  objects  pretty  well  defined  at  the 
same  time,  or  is  the  place  of  sharpest  definition  at  any  one 
moment  more  contracted  than  it  is  in  a  real  scene  1 

3.  Colouring. — Are  the  colours  of  the  china,  of  the  toast, 
bread-crust,  mustard,  meat,  parsley,  or  whatever  may  have  been 
on  the  table,  quite  distinct  and  natural?" 

The  earliest  results  of  my  inquiry  amazed  me.  I 
had  begun  by  questioning  friends  in  the  scientific 
world,  as  they  were  the  most  likely  class  of  men  to 
give    accurate    answers    concerning   this    faculty   of 


MENTAL   IMAGERY.  85 

visualising,  to  which  novelists  and  poets  continually 
allude,  which  has  left  an  abiding  mark  on  the  voca- 
bularies of  every  language,  and  which  supplies  the 
material  out  of  which  dreams  and  the  well-known 
hallucinations  of  sick  people  are  built. 

To  my  astonishment,  I  found  that  the  great 
majority  of  the  men  of  science  to  whom  I  first  applied 
protested  that  mental  imagery  was  unknown  to  them, 
and  they  looked  on  me  as  fanciful  and  fantastic  in 
supposing  that  the  words  "  mental  imagery  "  really 
expressed  what  I  believed  everybody  supposed  them 
to  mean.  They  had  no  more  notion  of  its  true  nature 
than  a  colour-blind  man,  who  has  not  discerned  his 
defect,  has  of  the  nature  of  colour.  They  had  a  mental 
deficiency  of  which  they  were  unaware,  and  naturally 
enough  supposed  that  those  who  affirmed  they  pos- 
sessed it,  were  romancing.  To  illustrate  their  mental 
attitude  it  will  be  sufficient  to  quote  a  few  lines  from 
the  letter  of  one  of  my  correspondents,  who  writes  : — 

"  These  questions  presuppose  assent  to  some  sort  of  a  pro- 
position regarding  the  '  mind's  eye,'  and  the  '  images  '  which  it 
sees.  .  .  .  This  points  to  some  initial  fallacy.  .  .  .  It  is  only  by 
a  figure  of  speech  that  I  can  describe  my  recollection  of  a  scene 
as  a '  mental  image '  which  I  can  '  see '  with  my  '  mind's  eye.'  .  .  . 
I  do  not  see  it  .  .  .  any  more  than  a  man  sees  the'  thousand 
lines  of  Sophocles  which  under  due  pressure  he  is  ready  to 
repeat.     The  memory  possesses  it,  etc." 

Much  the  same  result  followed  inquiries  made  for 
me  by  a  friend  among  members  of  the  French  Institute. 

On  the  other  hand,  when  I  spoke  to  persons  whom 
I  met  in  general  society,  I  found  an  entirely  different 
disposition  to  prevail.     Many  men  and  a  yet  larger 


86  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

number  of  women,  and  many  boys  and  girls,  declared 
that  they  habitually  saw  mental  imagery,  and  that 
it  was  perfectly  distinct  to  them  and  full  of  colour. 
The  more  I  pressed  and  cross-questioned  them,  pro- 
fessing myself  to  be  incredulous,  the  more  obvious 
was  the  truth  of  their  first  assertions.  They  described 
their  imagery  in  minute  detail,  and  they  spoke  in  a 
tone  of  surprise  at  my  apparent  hesitation  in  accepting 
what  they  said.  I  felt  that  I  myself  should  have 
spoken  exactly  as  they  did  if  I  had  been  describing  a 
scene  that  lay  before  my  eyes,  in  broad  daylight,  to  a 
blind  man  who  persisted  in  doubting  the  reality  of 
vision.  Reassured  by  this  happier  experience,  I  re- 
commenced to  inquire  among  scientific  men,  and  soon 
found  scattered  instances  of  what  I  sought,  though  in 
by  no  means  the  same  abundance  as  elsewhere.  I 
then  circulated  my  questions  more  generally  among 
my  friends  and  through  their  hands,  and  obtained  the 
replies  that  are  the  main  subject  of  this  and  of  the 
three  next  chapters.  They  were  from  persons  of  both 
sexes,  and  of  various  ages,  and  in  the  end  from  occa- 
sional correspondents  in  nearly  every  civilised  country. 
I  have  also  received  batches  of  answers  from 
various  educational  establishments  both  in  England 
and  America,  which  were  made  after  the  masters  had 
fully  explained  the  meaning  of  the  questions,  and 
interested  the  boys  in  them.  These  have  the  merit  of 
returns  derived  from  a  general  census,  which  my  other 
data  lack,  because  I  cannot  for  a  moment  suppose  that 
the  writers  of  the  latter  are  a  haphazard  proportion  of 
those  to  whom  they  were  sent.     Indeed  I  know  of 


MENTAL    IMAGERY.  87 

some  who,  disavowing  all  possession  of  the  power,  and 
of  many  others  who,  possessing  it  in  too  faint  a  degree 
to  enable  them  to  express  what  their  experiences 
really  were,  in  a  manner  satisfactory  to  themselves, 
sent  no  returns  at  all.  Considerable  statistical 
similarity  was,  however,  observed  between  the  sets  of 
returns  furnished  by  the  schoolboys  and  those  sent  by 
my  separate  correspondents,  and  I  may  add  that  they 
accord  in  this  respect  with  the  oral  information  I  have 
elsewhere  obtained.  The  conformity  of  replies  from 
so  many  different  sources  which  was  clear  from  the 
first,  the  fact  of  their  apparent  trustworthiness  being 
on  the  whole  much  increased  by  cross-examination 
(though  I  could  give  one  or  two  amusing  instances  of 
break-down),  and  the  evident  effort  made  to  give 
accurate  answers,  have  convinced  me  that  it  is  a  much 
easier  matter  than  I  had  anticipated  to  obtain  trust- 
worthy replies  to  psychological  questions.  Many 
persons,  especially  women  and  intelligent  children, 
take  pleasure  in  introspection,  and  strive  their  very 
best  to  explain  their  mental  processes.  I  think  that 
a  delight  in  self-dissection  must  be  a  strong  ingredient 
in  the  pleasure  that  many  are  said  to  take  in  confess- 
ing themselves  to  priests. 

Here,  then,  are  two  rather  notable  results  :  the  one 
is  the  proved  facility  of  obtaining  statistical  insight 
into  the  processes  of  other  persons'  minds,  whatever  a 
"priori  objection  may  have  been  made  as  to  its  possi- 
bility; and  the  other  is  that  scientific  men,  as  a  class, 
have  feeble  powers  of  visual  representation.  There 
is   no    doubt   whatever    on    the   latter   point,    how- 


88  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

ever  it  may  be  accounted  for.  My  own  conclu- 
sion is,  that  an  over-ready  perception  of  sharp 
mental  pictures  is  antagonistic  to  the  acquirement  of 
habits  of  highly- generalised  and  abstract  thought, 
especially  when  the  steps  of  reasoning  are  carried  on 
by  words  as  symbols,  and  that  if  the  faculty  of  seeing 
the  pictures  was  ever  possessed  by  men  who  think 
hard,  it  is  very  apt  to  be  lost  by  disuse.  The  highest 
minds  are  probably  those  in  which  it  is  not  lost,  but 
subordinated,  and  is  ready  for  use  on  suitable  occa- 
sions. I  am,  however,  bound  to  say,  that  the  missing 
faculty  seems  to  be  replaced  so  serviceably  by  other 
modes  of  conception,  chiefly,  I  believe,  connected  with 
the  incipient  motor  sense,  not  of  the  eyeballs  only  but 
of  the  muscles  generally,  that  men  who  declare  them- 
selves entirely  deficient  in  the  power  of  seeing  mental 
pictures  can  nevertheless  give  life-like  descriptions 
of  what  they  have  seen,  and  can  otherwise  express 
themselves  as  if  they  were  gifted  with  a  vivid  visual 
imagination.  They  can  also  become  painters  of  the 
rank  of  Royal  Academicians. 

The  facts'  I  am  now  about  to  relate  are  obtained 
from  the  returns  of  100  adult  men,  of  whom  19  are 
Fellows  of  the  Royal  Society,  mostly  of  very  high 
repute,  and  at  least  twice,  and  I  think  I  may  say 
three  times,  as  many  more  are  persons  of  distinction 
in  various  kinds  of  intellectual  work.  As  already 
remarked,  these  returns  taken  by  themselves  do  not 
profess  to  be  of  service  in  a  general  statistical  sense, 
but  they  are  of  much  importance  in  showing  how 
men  of  exceptional  accuracy  express  themselves  when 


MENTAL    IMAGERY.  89 

they  are  speaking  of  mental  imagery.  They  also 
testify  to  the  variety  of  experiences  to  be  met  with  in 
a  moderately  large  circle.  I  will  begin  by  giving 
a  few  cases  of  the  highest,  of  the  medium,  and  of 
the  lowest  order  of  the  faculty  of  visualising.  The 
hundred  returns  were  first  classified  according  to 
the  order  of  the  faculty,  as  judged  to  the  best  of  my 
ability  from  the  whole  of  what  was  said  in  them,  and 
of  what  I  knew  from  other  sources  of  the  writers ; 
and  the  number  prefixed  to  each  quotation  shows  its 
place  in  the  class-list. 

Vividness  of  Mental  Imagery. 

(From  returns,  furnished  by  100  men,  at  least  half  of 
whom  are  distinguished  in  science  or  in  other 
fields  of  intellectual  work.) 

Cases  where  the  faculty  is  very  high. 

1.  Brilliant,  distinct,  never  blotchy. 

2.  Quite  comparable  to  the  real  object.     I  feel  as  though  I 
was  dazzled,  e.g.  when  recalling  the  sun  to  my  mental  vision. 

3.  In  some  instances  quite  as  bright  as  an  actual  scene. 

4.  Brightness  as  in  the  actual  scene. 

5.  Thinking  of   the  breakfast  -  table  this  morning,  all  the 
objects  in  my  mental  picture  are  as  bright  as  the  actual  scene. 

6.  The  image  once  seen  is  perfectly  clear  and  bright. 

7.  Brightness  at  first  quite  comparable  to  actual  scene. 

8.  The  mental  image  appears  to  correspond  in  all  respects 
with  reality.     I  think  it  is  as  clear  as  the  actual  scene. 

9.  The  brightness  is  perfectly  comparable  to  that  of  the  real 
scene. 

10.  I  think  the  illumination  of  the  imaginary  image  is  nearly 
equal  to  that  of  the  real  one. 


90  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

11.  All  clear  and  bright;  all  the  objects  seem  to  me  well 
defined  at  the  same  time. 

12.  I  can  see  my  breakfast -table  or  any  equally  familiar 
thing  with  my  mind's  eye,  quite  as  well  in  all  particulars  as  I 
can  do  if  the  reality  is  before  me. 

Cases  where  the  faculty  is  mediocre. 

46.  Fairly  clear  and  not  incomparable  in  illumination  with 
that  of  the  real  scene,  especially  when  I  first  catch  it.  Apt  to 
become  fainter  when  more  particularly  attended  to. 

47.  Fairly  clear,  not  quite  comparable  to  that  of  the  actual 
scene.  Some  objects  are  more  sharply  defined  than  others,  the 
more  familiar  objects  coming  more  distinctly  in  my  mind. 

48.  Fairly  clear  as  a  general  image  ;  details  rather  misty. 

49.  Fairly  clear,  but  not  equal  to  the  scene.  Defined,  but 
not  sharply ;  not  all  seen  with  equal  clearness. 

50.  Fairly  clear.  Brightness  probably  at  least  one-half  to 
two-thirds  of  original.  [The  writer  is  a  physiologist.]  Defini- 
tion varies  very  much,  one  or  two  objects  being  much  more  dis- 
tinct than  the  others,  but  the  latter  come  out  clearly  if  attention 
be  paid  to  them. 

51.  Image  of  my  breakfast-table  fairly  clear,  but  not  quite 
so  bright  as  the  reality.  Altogether  it  is  pretty  well  defined  ; 
the  part  where  I  sit  and  its  surroundings  are  pretty  well  so. 

52.  Fairly  clear,  but  brightness  not  comparable  to  that  of 
the  actual  scene.  The  objects  are  sharply  defined;  some  of  them 
are  salient,  and  others  insignificant  and  dim,  but  by  separate 
efforts  I  can  take  a  visualised  inventory  of  the  whole  table. 

53.  Details  of  breakfast-table  token  the  scene  is  reflected  on 
are  fairly  defined  and  complete,  but  I  have  had  a  familiarity 
of  many  years  with  my  own  breakfast-table,  and  the  above 
would  not  be  the  case  with  a  table  seen  casually  unless  there 
were  some  striking  peculiarity  in  it. 

54.  I  can  recall  any  single  object  or  group  of  objects,  but 
not  the  whole  table  at  once.  The  things  recalled  are  generally 
clearly  defined.  Our  table  is  a  long  one  ;  I  can  in  my  mind 
pass  my  eyes  all  down  the  table  and  see  the  different  things 
distinctly,  but  not  the  whole  table  at  once. 


MENTAL   IMAGERY.  91 

Cases  where  the  faculty  is  at  the  lowest. 

89.  Dim  and  indistinct,  yet  I  can  give  an  account  of  this 
morning's  breakfast-table ;  split  herrings,  broiled  chickens,  bacon, 
rolls,  rather  light-coloured  marmalade,  faint  green  plates  with 
stiff  pink  flowers,  the  girls'  dresses,  etc.  etc.  I  can  also  tell 
where  all  the  dishes  were,  and  where  the  people  sat  (I  was  on  a 
visit).  But  my  imagination  is  seldom  pictorial  except  between 
sleeping  and  waking,  when  I  sometimes  see  rather  vivid  forms. 

90.  Dim  and  not  comparable  in  brightness  to  the  real  scene. 
Badly  defined  with  blotches  of  light ;  very  incomplete. 

91.  Dim,  poor  definition;  could  not  sketch  from  it.  I  have 
a  difficulty  in  seeing  two  images  together. 

92.  Usually  very  dim.  I  cannot  speak  of  its  brightness, 
but  only  of  its  faintness.     Not  well  defined  and  very  incomplete. 

93.  Dim,  imperfect. 

94.  I  am  very  rarely  able  to  recall  any  object  whatever  with 
any  sort  of  distinctness.  Very  occasionally  an  object  or  image 
will  recall  itself,  but  even  then  it  is  more  like  a  generalised, 
image  than  an  individual  image.  I  seem  to  be  almost  destitute 
of  visualising  power,  as  under  control. 

95.  No  power  of  visualising.  Between  sleeping  and  wak- 
ing, in  illness  and  in  health,  with  eyes  closed,  some  remarkable 
scenes  have  occasionally  presented  themselves,  but  I  cannot 
recall  them  when  awake  with  eyes  open,  and  by  daylight,  or 
under  any  circumstances  whatever  when  a  copy  could  be  made 
of  them  on  paper.  I  have  drawn  both  men  and  places  many 
days  or  weeks  after  seeing  them,  but  it  was  by  an  effort  of 
memory  acting  on  study  at  the  time,  and  assisted  by  trial  and 
error  on  the  paper  or  canvas,  whether  in  black,  yellow,  or  colour, 
afterwards. 

96.  It  is  only  as  a  figure  of  speech  that  I  can  describe  my 
recollection  of  a  scene  as  a  "mental  image"  which  I  can  "see" 
with  my  "mind's  eye."  .  .  .  The  memory  possesses  it,  and  the 
mind  can  at  will  roam  over  the  whole,  or  study  minutely  any 
part. 

97.  No  individual  objects,  only  a  general  idea  of  a  very  un- 
certain kind. 

98.  No.     My  memory  is  not  of  the  nature  of  a  spontaneous 


92  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

vision,  though  I  remember  well  where  a  word  occurs  in  a  page, 
how  furniture  looks  in  a  room,  &c.  The  ideas  not  felt  to  be 
mental  pictures,  but  rather  the  symbols  of  facts. 

99.  Extremely  dim.  The  impressions  are  in  all  respects  so 
dim,  vague,  and  transient,  that  I  doubt  whether  they  can  reason- 
ably be  called  images.  They  are  incomparably  less  than  those 
of  dreams. 

100.  My  powers  are  zero.  To  my  consciousness  there  is 
almost  no  association  of  memory  with  objective  visual  impres- 
sions.    I  recollect  the  breakfast-table,  but  do  not  see  it. 

These  quotations  clearly  show  the  great  variety  of 
natural  powers  of  visual  representation,  and  though 
the  returns  from  which  they  are  taken  have,  as  I  said, 
no  claim  to  be  those  of  100  Englishmen  taken  at 
haphazard,  nevertheless,  to  the  best  of  my  judgment, 
they  happen  to  differ  among  themselves  in  much  the 
same  way  that  such  returns  would  have  done.  I  can- 
not procure  a  strictly  haphazard  series  for  comparison, 
because  in  any  group  of  persons  whom  I  may  question 
there  are  always  many  too  indolent  to  reply,  or  incap- 
able of  expressing  themselves,  or  who  from  some  fancy 
of  their  own  are  unwilling  to  reply.  Still,  as  already 
mentioned,  I  have  got  together  several  groups  that 
approximate  to  what  is  wanted,  usually  from  schools, 
and  I  have  analysed  them  as  well  as  I  could,  and  the 
general  result  is  that  the  above  returns  may  be 
accepted  as  a  fair  representation  of  the  visualising 
powers  of  Englishmen.  Treating  these  according  to 
the  method  described  in  the  chapter  of  statistics,  we 
have  the  following  results,  in  which,  as  a  matter  of 
interest,  I  have  also  recorded  the  highest  and  the 
lowest  of  the  series  : — 


MENTAL    IMAGERY.  93 

Highest. — Brilliant,  distinct,  never  blotchy. 


First  Snboctile. — The  image  once  seen  is  perfectly  clear  and 
bright. 

First  Octile. — I  can  see  my  breakfast- table  or  any  equally 
familiar  thing  with  my  mind's  eye  quite  as  well  in  all  particulars 
as  I  can  do  if  the  reality  is  before  me. 

First  Quartile. — Fairly  clear;  illumination  of  actual  scene  is 
fairly  represented.  Well  denned.  Parts  do  not  obtrude  them- 
selves, but  attention  has  to  be  directed  to  different  points  in  suc- 
cession to  call  up  the  whole. 

Middlemost. — Fairly  clear.  Brightness  probably  at  least  from 
one-half  to  two-thirds  of  the  original.  Definition  varies  very 
much,  one  or  two  objects  being  much  more  distinct  than  the 
others,  but  the  latter  come  out  clearly  if  attention  be  paid  to 
them. 

Last  Quartile. — Dim,  certainly  not  comparable  to  the  actual 
scene.  I  have  to  think  separately  of  the  several  things  on  the 
table  to  bring  them  clearly  before  the  mind's  eye,  and  when  I 
think  of  some  things  the  others  fade  away  in  confusion. 

Last  Octile. — Dim  and  not  comparable  in  brightness  to  the 
real  scene.  Badly  defined  with  blotches  of  light ;  very  incom- 
plete ;  very  little  of  one  object  is  seen  at  one  time. 

Last  Suboctile. — I  am  very  rarely  able  to  recall  any  object 
whatever  with  any  sort  of  distinctness.  Very  occasionally  an 
object  or  image  will  recall  itself,  but  even  then  it  is  more  like 
a  generalised  image  than  an  individual  one.  I  seem  to  be  almost 
destitute  of  visualising  power  as  under  control. 


Lowest. — My  powers  are  zero.  To  my  consciousness  there  is 
almost  no  association  of  memory  with  objective  visual  impressions. 
I  recollect  the  table,  but  do  not  see  it. 

I  next  proceed  to  colour,  as  specified  in  the  third 
of  my  questions,  and  annex  a  selection  from  the 
returns  classified  on  the  same  principle  as  in  the  pre- 
ceding paragraph. 


94  inquiries  into  human  faculty. 

Colour  Kepresentation. 

Highest. — Perfectly  distinct,  bright,  and  natural. 


First  Suboctile. — White  cloth,  blue  china,  argand  coffee-pot, 
buff  stand  with  sienna  drawing,  toast — all  clear. 

First  Octile. — All  details  seen  perfectly. 

First  Quartile. — Colours  distinct  and  natural  till  I  begin  to 
puzzle  over  them. 

Middlemost. — Fairly  distinct,  though  not  certain  that  they  are 
accurately  recalled. 

Last  Quartile. — Natural,  but  very  indistinct . 

Last  Octile. — Faint ;  can  only  recall  colours  by  a  special  effort 
for  each. 

Last  Suboctile. — Power  is  nil. 


Lowest. — Power  is  nil. 

It  may  seem  surprising  that  one  out  of  every  six- 
teen persons  who  are  accustomed  to  use  accurate  ex- 
pressions should  speak  of  their  mental  imagery  as 
perfectly  clear  and  bright ;  but  it  is  so,  and  many  details 
are  added  in  various  returns  emphasising  the  assertion. 
One  of  the  commonest  of  these  is  to  the  effect,  <f  If  I 
could  draw,  I  am  sure  I  could  draw  perfectly  from 
my  mental  image."  That  some  artists,  such  as  Blake, 
have  really  done  so  is  beyond  dispute,  but  I  have 
little  doubt  that  there  is  an  unconscious  exaggeration 
in  these  returns.  My  reason  for  saying  so  is  that  I 
have  also  returns  from  artists,  who  say  as  follows : 
"  My  imagery  is  so  clear,  that  if  I  had  been  unable  to 
draw  I  should  have  unhesitatingly  said  that  I  could 
draw  from  it."    A  foremost  painter  of  the  present  day 


MENTAL   IMAGERY.  95 

has  used  that  expression.  He  finds  deficiencies  and 
gaps  when  he  tries  to  draw  from  his  mental  vision. 
There  is  perhaps  some  analogy  between  these  images 
and  those  of  "  faces  in  the  fire."  One  may  often  fancy 
an  exceedingly  well-marked  face  or  other  object  in  the 
burning  coals,  but  probably  everybody  will  find,  as  I 
have  done,  that  it  is  impossible  to  draw  it,  for  as  soon  as 
its  outlines  are  seriously  studied,  the  fancy  flies  away. 

Mr.  Flinders  Petrie,  a  contributor  of  interesting 
experiments  on  kindred  subjects  to  Nature,  informs 
me  that  he  habitually  works  out  sums  by  aid  of  an 
imaginary  sliding  rule,  which  he  sets  in  the  desired 
way  and  reads  off  mentally.  He  does  not  usually 
visualise  the  whole  rule,  but  only  that  part  of  it  with 
which  he  is  at  the  moment  concerned  (see  Plate  II. 
fig.  34,  where,  however,  the  artist  has  not  put  in  the 
divisions  very  correctly).  I  think  this  is  one  of  the 
most  striking  cases  of  accurate  visualising  power  it  is 
possible  to  imagine. 

I  have  a  few  returns  from  chess-players  who  play 
games  blindfolded ;  but  the  powers  of  such  men  to 
visualise  the  separate  boards  with  different  sets  of  men 
on  the  different  boards,  some  ivory,  some  wood,  and 
so  forth,  are  well  known,  and  I  need  not  repeat  them. 
I  will  rather  give  the  following  extract  from  an  article 
in  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette,  27th  June  1882,  on  the  recent 
chess  tournament  at  Vienna  : — 

"  The  modern  feats  of  blindfold  play  (without  sight  of  board) 
greatly  surpass  those  of  twenty  years  ago.  Paul  Morphy,  the 
American,  was  the  first  who  made  an  especial  study  of  this  kind 
of  display,  playing   some   seven  or  eight  games   blindfold   and 


96  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

simultaneously  against  various  inferior  opponents,  and  making 
lucrative  exhibitions  in  this  way.  His  abilities  in  this  line  created 
a  scare  among  other  rivals  who  had  not  practised  this  test  of 
memory.  Since  his  day  many  chess-players  who  are  gifted  with 
strong  and  clear  memory  and  power  of  picturing  to  the  mind  the 
ideal  board  and  men,  have  carried  this  branch  of  exhibition  play 
far  beyond  Morphy's  pitch ;  and,  contemporaneously  with  this 
development,  it  has  become  acknowledged  that  skill  in  blindfold 
play  is  not  an  absolute  test  of  similarly  relative  powers  over  the 
board  :  e.g.  Blackburne  and  Zukertort  can  play  as  many  as  six- 
teen, or  even  twenty,  blindfold  games  at  a  time,  and  win  about 
80  per  cent  of  them,  at  least.  Steinitz,  who  beats  them  both  in 
match  play,  does  not  essay  more  than  six  blindfold  at  a  time. 
Mason  does  not,  to  our  knowledge,  make  any  spdcialitS  at  all  of 
this  sort." 

I  have  many  cases  of  persons  mentally  reading  off 
scores  when  playing  the  pianoforte,  or  manuscript  when 
they  are  making  speeches.  One  statesman  has  assured 
me  that  a  certain  hesitation  in  utterance  which  he  has 
at  times,  is  due  to  his  being  plagued  by  the  image  of 
his  manuscript  speech  with  its  original  erasures  and 
corrections.  He  cannot  lay  the  ghost,  and  he  puzzles 
in  trying  to  decipher  it. 

Some  few  persons  see  mentally  in  print  every  word 
that  is  uttered  ;  they  attend  to  the  visual  equivalent 
and  not  to  the  sound  of  the  words,  and  they  read 
them  off  usually  as  from  a  long  imaginary  strip  of 
paper,  such  as  is  unwound  from  telegraphic  instru- 
ments. The  experiences  differ  in  detail  as  to  size  and 
kind  of  type,  colour  of  paper,  and  so  forth,  but  are 
always  the  same  in  the  same  person. 

A  well-known  frequenter  of  the  Royal  Institution 
tells  me  that  he  often  craves  for  an  absence  of  visual 


MENTAL   IMAGERY.  97 

perceptions,  they  are  so  brilliant  and  persistent.  The 
Kev.  George  Henslow  speaks  of  their  extreme  restless- 
ness ;  they  oscillate,  rotate,  and  change, 

It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  sharp  sight  is 
accompanied  by  clear  visual  memory.  I  have  not  a 
few  instances  in  which  the  independence  of  the  two 
faculties  is  emphatically  commented  on ;  and  I  have 
at  least  one  clear  case  where  great  interest  in  outlines 
and  accurate  appreciation  of  straightness,  squareness, 
and  the  like,  is  unaccompanied  by  the  power  of  visual- 
ising. Neither  does  the  faculty  go  with  dreaming. 
I  have  cases  where  it  is  powerful,  and  at  the  same 
time  where  dreams  are  rare  and  faint  or  altogether 
absent.  One  friend  tells  me  that  his  dreams  have 
not  the  hundredth  part  of  the  vigour  of  his  waking 
fancies. 

The  visualising  and  the  identifying  powers  are  by 
no  means  necessarily  combined.  A  distinguished 
writer  on  metaphysical  topics  assures  me  that  he  is 
exceptionally  quick  at  recognising  a  face  that  he  has 
seen  before,  but  that  he  cannot  call  up  a  mental 
image  of  any  face  with  clearness. 

Some  persons  have  the  power  of  combining  in  a 
single  perception  more  than  can  be  seen  at  any  one 
moment  by  the  two  eyes.  It  is  needless  to  insist  on 
the  fact  that  all  who  have  two  eyes  see  stereoscopi- 
cally,  and  therefore  somewhat  round  a  corner.  Child- 
ren, who  can  focus  their  eyes  on  very  near  objects, 
must  be  able  to  comprise  in  a  single  mental  image 
much  more  than  a  half  of  any  small  object  they  are 
examining.     Animals  such  as  hares,  whose  eyes  are 

H 


98  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

set  more  on  the  side  of  the  head  than  ours,  must  be 
able  to  perceive  at  one  and  the  same  instant  more  of 
a  panorama  than  we  can.  I  find  that  a  few  persons 
can,  by  what  they  often  describe  as  a  kind  of  touch- 
sight,  visualise  at  the  same  moment  all  round  the 
image  of  a  solid  body.  Many  can  do  so  nearly,  but 
not  altogether  round  that  of  a  terrestrial  globe.  An 
eminent  mineralogist  assures  me  that  he  is  able  to 
imagine  simultaneously  all  the  sides  of  a  crystal  with 
which  he  is  familiar.  I  may  be  allowed  to  quote  a 
curious  faculty  of  my  own  in  respect  to  this.  It  is 
exercised  only  occasionally  and  in  dreams,  or  rather 
in  nightmares,  but  under  those  circumstances  I  am 
perfectly  conscious  of  embracing  an  entire  sphere  in  a 
single  perception.  It  appears  to  lie  within  my  mental 
eyeball,  and  to  be  viewed  centripetally. 

This  power  of  comprehension  is  practically  at- 
tained in  many  cases  by  indirect  methods.  It  is  a 
common  feat  to  take  in  the  whole  surroundings  of  an 
imagined  room  with  such  a  rapid  mental  sweep  as  to 
leave  some  doubt  whether  it  has  not  been  viewed 
simultaneously.  Some  persons  have  the  habit  of  view- 
ing objects  as  though  they  were  partly  transparent ; 
thus,  if  they  so  dispose  a  globe  in  their  imagination 
as  to  see  both  its  north  and  south  poles  at  the  same 
time,  they  will  not  be  able  to  see  its  equatorial  parts. 
They  can  also  perceive  all  the  rooms  of  an  imaginary 
house  by  a  single  mental  glance,  the  walls  and  floors 
being  as  if  made  of  glass.  A  fourth  class  of  persons 
have  the  habit  of  recalling  scenes,  not  from  the  point 
of  view  whence  they  were  observed,  but  from  a  dis- 


MENTAL    IMAGERY.  99 

tance,  and  they  visualise  their  own  selves  as  actors  on 
the  mental  stage.  By  one  or  other  of  these  ways,  the 
power  of  seeing  the  whole  of  an  object,  and  not  merely 
one  aspect  of  it,  is  possessed  by  many  persons. 

The  place  where  the  image  appears  to  lie,  differs 
much.  Most  persons  see  it  in  an  indefinable  sort  of 
way,  others  see  it  in  front  of  the  eye,  others  at  a  dis- 
tance corresponding  to  reality.  There  exists  a  power 
which  is  rare  naturally,  but  can,  I  believe,  be  acquired 
without  much  difficulty,  of  projecting  a  mental  pic- 
ture upon  a  piece  of  paper,  and  of  holding  it  fast 
there,  so  that  it  can  be  outlined  with  a  pencil.  To 
this  I  shall  recur. 

Images  usually  do  not  become  stronger  by  dwell- 
ing on  them ;  the  first  idea  is  commonly  the  most 
vigorous,  but  this  is  not  always  the  case.  Sometimes 
the  mental  view  of  a  locality  is  inseparably  con- 
nected with  the  sense  of  its  position  as  regards  the 
points  of  the  compass,  real  or  imaginary.  I  have 
received  full  and  curious  descriptions  from  very 
different  sources  of  this  strong  geographical  tend- 
ency, and  in  one  or  two  cases  I  have  reason  to  think 
it  allied  to  a  considerable  faculty  of  geographical 
comprehension. 

The  power  of  visualising  is  higher  in  the  female 
sex  than  in  the  male,  and  is  somewhat,  but  not  much, 
higher  in  public  schoolboys  than  in  men.  After 
maturity  is  reached,  the  further  advance  of  age  does 
not  seem  to  dim  the  faculty,  but  rather  the  reverse, 
judging  from  numerous  statements  to  that  effect ; 
but  advancing  years  are  sometimes  accompanied  by 


100  INQUIKIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

a  growing  habit  of  hard  abstract  thinking,  and  in 
these  cases — not  uncommon  among  those  whom  I 
have  questioned — the  faculty  undoubtedly  becomes 
impaired.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  it  is  very 
high  in  some  young  children,  who  seem  to  spend  years 
of  difficulty  in  distinguishing  between  the  subjective 
and  objective  world.  Language  and  book-learning 
certainly  tend  to  dull  it. 

The  visualising  faculty  is  a  natural  gift,  and,  like 
all  natural  gifts,  has  a  tendency  to  be  inherited.  In 
this  faculty  the  tendency  to  inheritance  is  exception- 
ally strong,  as  I  have  abundant  evidence  to  prove, 
especially  in  respect  to  certain  rather  rare  peculiari- 
ties, of  which  I  shall  speak  in  the  next  chapter,  and 
which,  when  they  exist  at  all,  are  usually  found 
among  two,  three,  or  more  brothers  and  sisters, 
parents,  children,  uncles  and  aunts,  and  cousins. 

Since  families  differ  so  much  in  respect  to  this 
gift,  we  may  suppose  that  races  would  also  differ,  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  such  is  the  case.  I  hardly 
like  to  refer  to  civilised  nations,  because  their  natural 
faculties  are  too  much  modified  by  education  to  allow 
of  their  being  appraised  in  an  off-hand  fashion.  I 
may,  however,  speak  of  the  French,  who  appear  to 
possess  the  visualising  faculty  in  a  high  degree.  The 
peculiar  ability  they  show  in  prearranging  ceremonials 
and  fetes  of  all  kinds,  and  their  undoubted  genius  for 
tactics  and  strategy,  show  that  they  are  able  to  fore- 
see effects  with  unusual  clearness.  Their  ingenuity 
in  all  technical  contrivances  is  an  additional  testi- 
mony in  the  same  direction,  and  so  is  their  singular 


MENTAL    IMAGERY.  101 

clearness  of  expression.  Their  phrase,  "  figurez-vous," 
or  "picture  to  yourself,"  seems  to  express  their 
dominant  mode  of  perception.  Our  equivalent  of 
"imagine"  is  ambiguous. 

It  is  among  uncivilised  races  that  natural  differ- 
ences in  the  visualising  faculty  are  most  conspicuous. 
Many  of  them  make  carvings  and  rude  illustrations, 
but  only  a  few  have  the  gift  of  carrying  a  picture  in 
their  mind's  eye,  judging  by  the  completeness  and 
firmness  of  their  designs,  which  show  no  trace  of 
having  been  elaborated  in  that  step-by-step  manner 
which  is  characteristic  of  draughtsmen  who  are  not 
natural  artists. 

Among  the  races  who  are  thus  gifted  are  the 
commonly  despised,  but,  as  I  confidently  maintain 
from  personal  knowledge  of  them,  the  much  under- 
rated Bushmen  of  South  Africa.  They  are  no  doubt 
deficient  in  the  natural  instincts  necessary  to  civilisa- 
tion, for  they  detest  a  regular  life,  they  are  inveterate 
thieves,  and  are  incapable  of  withstanding  the  temp- 
tation of  strong  drink.  On  the  other  hand,  they  have 
few  superiors  among  barbarians  in  the  ingenious 
methods  by  which  they  supply  the  wants  of  a  diffi- 
cult existence,  and  in  the  effectiveness  and  nattiness 
of  their  accoutrements.  One  of  their  habits  is  to 
draw  pictures  on  the  walls  of  caves  of  men  and 
animals,  and  to  colour  them  with  ochre.  These 
drawings  were  once  numerous,  but  they  have  been 
sadly  destroyed  by  advancing  colonisation,  and  few 
of  them,  and  indeed  few  wild  Bushmen,  now  exist. 
Fortunately  a  large  and  valuable   collection  of  fac- 


102  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

similes  of  Bushman  art  was  made  before  it  became 
too  late  by  Mr.  Stow,  of  the  Cape  Colony,  who  has 
very  lately  sent  some  specimens  of  them  to  this 
country,  in  the  hope  that  means  might  be  found  for 
the  publication  of  the  entire  series.  Among  the  many 
pictures  of  animals  in  each  of  the  large  sheets  full  of 
them,  I  was  particularly  struck  with  one  of  an  eland 
as  giving  a  just  idea  of  the  precision  and  purity  of 
their  best  work.  Others,  again,  were  exhibited  last 
summer  at  the  Anthropological  Institute  by  Mr. 
Hutchinson. 

The  method  by  which  the  Bushmen  draw  is  de- 
scribed in  the  following  extract  from  a  letter  written 
to  me  by  Dr.  Mann,  the  well-known  authority  on 
South  African  matters  of  science.  The  boy  to  whom 
he  refers  belonged  to  a  wild  tribe  living  in  caves  in 
the  Drakenberg,  who  plundered  outlying  farms,  and 
were  pursued  by  the  neighbouring  colonists.  He  was 
wounded  and  captured,  then  sent  to  hospital,  and 
subsequently  taken  into  service.  He  was  under  Dr. 
Mann's  observation  in  the  year  1860,  and  has  re- 
cently died,  to  the  great  regret  of  his  employer,  Mr. 
Proudfoot,  to  whom  he  became  a  valuable  servant. 

Dr.  Mann  writes  as  follows  : — 

"  This  lad  was  very  skilful  in  the  proverbial  Bushman  art 
of  drawing  animal  figures,  and  upon  several  occasions  I  induced 
him  to  show  me  how  this  was  managed  among  his  people.  He 
invariably  began  by  jotting  down  upon  paper  or  on  a  slate  a 
number  of  isolated  dots  which  presented  no  connection  or  trace 
of  outline  of  any  kind  to  the  uninitiated  eye,  but  looked  like  the 
stars  scattered  promiscuously  in  the  sky.  Having  with  much 
deliberation  satisfied  himself  of  the  sufficiency  of  these  dots,  he 


MENTAL   IMAGERY.  103 

forthwith  began  to  run  a  free  bold  line  from  one  to  the  other, 
and  as  he  did  so  the  form  of  an  animal — horse,  buffalo,  elephant, 
or  some  kind  of  antelope — gradually  developed  itself.  This  was 
invariably  done  with  a  free  hand,  and  with  such  unerring  accu- 
racy of  touch,  that  no  correction  of  a  line  was  at  any  time 
attempted.  I  understood  from  the  lad  that  this  was  the  plan 
which  was  invariably  pursued  by  his  kindred  in  making  their 
clever  pictures." 

It  is  impossible,  I  think,  for  a  drawing  to  be  made 
on  this  method  unless  the  artist  had  a  clear  image  in 
his  mind's  eye  of  what  he  was  about  to  draw,  and 
was  able,  in  some  degree,  to  project  it  on  the  paper 
or  slate. 

Other  living  races  have  the  gift  of  drawing,  but 
none  more  so  than  the  Eskimo.  I  will  therefore  speak 
of  these  and  not  of  the  Australian  and  Tasmanian 
pictures,  nor  of  the  still  ruder  performances  of  the 
old  inhabitants  of  Guiana,  nor  of  those  of  some  North 
American  tribes,  as  the  Iroquois.  The  Eskimos  are 
geographers  by  instinct,  and  appear  to  see  vast  tracts  of 
country  mapped  out  in  their  heads.  From  the  mul- 
titude of  illustrations  of  their  map-drawing  powers,  I 
may  mention  one  of  those  included  in  the  journals  of 
Captain  Hall,  at  p.  224,  which  were  published  in 
1879  by  the  United  States  Government,  under  the 
editorship  of  Professor  J.  E.  Nourse.  It  is  the  fac- 
simile of  a  chart  drawn  by  an  Eskimo  who  was  a 
thorough  barbarian  in  the  accepted  sense  of  the  word  ; 
that  is  to  say,  he  spoke  no  language  besides  his  own 
uncouth  tongue,  he  was  wholly  uneducated  according 
to  our  modern  ideas,  and  he  lived  in  what  we  should 
call  a  savage  fashion.     This  man  drew  from  memory 


104  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

a  chart  of  the  region  over  which  he  had  at  one  time 
or  another  gone  in  his  canoe.  It  extended  from  Pond's 
Bay,  in  lat.  73°,  to  Fort  Churchill,  in  lat.  58°44',  over 
a  distance  in  a  straight  line  of  more  than  960  nautical, 
or  1100  English  miles,  the  coast  being  so  indented  by 
arms  of  the  sea  that  its  length  is  six  times  as  great. 
On  comparing  this  rough  Eskimo  outline  with  the 
Admiralty  chart  of  1870,  their  accordance  is  remark- 
able. I  have  seen  many  MS.  route  maps  made  by 
travellers  a  few  years  since,  when  the  scientific  ex- 
ploration of  the  world  was  much  less  advanced  than 
it  is  now,  and  I  can  confidently  say  that  I  have 
never  known  of  any  traveller,  white  or  brown,  civilised 
or  uncivilised,  in  Africa,  Asia,  or  Australia,  who,  being 
unprovided  with  surveying  instruments,  and  trusting 
to  his  memory  alone,  has  produced  a  chart  compar- 
able in  extent  and  accuracy  to  that  of  this  barbarous 
Eskimo.  The  aptitude  of  the  Eskimos  to  draw,  is 
abundantly  shown  by  the  numerous  illustrations  in 
Rink's  work,  all  of  which  were  made  by  self-taught 
men,  and  are  thoroughly  realistic. 

So  much  for  the  wild  races  of  the  present  day ; 
but  even  the  Eskimo  are  equalled  in  their  power  of 
drawing  by  the  men  of  old  times.  In  ages  so  far 
gone  by,  that  the  interval  that  separates  them  from 
our  own  may  be  measured  in  perhaps  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  years,  when  Europe  was  mostly  ice- 
bound, a  race  who,  in  the  opinion  of  all  anthropo- 
logists, was  closely  allied  to  the  modern  Eskimo, 
lived  in  caves  in  the  more  habitable  places.  Many 
broken  relics  of  that  race  have  been  found  ;  some  few 


MENTAL    IMAGERY.  105 

of  these  are  of  bone,  engraved  with  flints  or  carved 
into  figures,  and  among  these  are  representations  of 
the  mammoth,  elk,  and  reindeer,  which,  if  made  by  an 
English  labourer  with  the  much  better  implements  at 
his  command,  would  certainly  attract  local  attention 
and  lead  to  his  being  properly  educated,  and  in  much 
likelihood  to  his  becoming  a  considerable  artist  if  he 
had  intellectual  powers  to  match. 

It  is  not  at  all  improbable  that  these  prehistoric 
men  had  the  same  geographical  instincts  as  the  modern 
Eskimo,  whom  they  closely  resemble  in  every  known 
respect.  If  so,  it  is  perfectly  possible  that  scraps  of 
charts  scratched  on  bone  or  stone,  of  prehistoric  Europe, 
when  the  distribution  of  land,  sea,  and  ice  was  very 
different  to  what  it  is  now,  may  still  exist,  buried 
underground,  and  may  reward  the  zeal  of  some  future 
cave  explorer. 

There  is  abundant  evidence  that  the  visualising 
faculty  admits  of  being  developed  by  education.  The 
testimony  on  which  I  would  lay  especial  stress  is 
derived  from  the  published  experiences  of  M.  Lecoq 
de  Boisbaudran,  late  director  of  the  Ecole  Nationale 
de  Dessein,  in  Paris,  which  are  related  in  his  Educa- 
tion de  la  Memoire  Pittoresque.1  He  trained  his 
pupils  with  extraordinary  success,  beginning  with  the 
simplest  figures.  They  were  made  to  study  the 
models  thoroughly  before  they  tried  to  draw  them 
from  memory.     One  favourite  expedient  was  to  asso- 

1  Republished  in  an  8vo,  entitled  Enseignment  Artistique.     Morel 
et  Cie.     Paris,  1879. 


106  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

ciate  the  sight  memory  with  the  muscular  memory, 
by  making  his  pupils  follow  at  a  distance  the  out- 
lines of  the  figures  with  a  pencil  held  in  their  hands. 
After  three  or  four  months'  practice,  their  visual 
memory  became  greatly  strengthened.  They  had  no 
difficulty  in  summoning  images  at  will,  in  holding 
them  steady,  and  in  drawing  them.  Their  copies 
were  executed  with  marvellous  fidelity,  as  attested  by 
a  commission  of  the  Institute,  appointed  in  1852  to 
inquire  into  the  matter,  of  which  the  eminent  painter 
Horace  Vernet  was  a  member.  The  present  Slade 
Professor  of  Fine  Arts  at  University  College,  M. 
Legros,  was  a  pupil  of  M.  de  Boisbaudran.  He  has 
expressed  to  me  his  indebtedness  to  the  system,  and 
he  has  assured  me  of  his  own  success  in  teaching 
others  in  a  somewhat  similar  way. 

Colonel  Moncrieff  informs  me  that,  when  wintering 
in  1877  near  Fort  Garry  in  North  America,  young 
Indians  occasionally  came  to  his  quarters,  and  that  he 
found  them  much  interested  in  any  pictures  or  prints 
that  were  put  before  them.  On  one  of  these  occasions 
he  saw  an  Indian  tracing  the  outline  of  a  print  from 
the  Illustrated  News  very  carefully  with  the  point  of 
his  knife.  The  reason  he  gave  for  this  odd  manoeuvre 
was,  that  he  would  remember  the  better  how  to  carve 
it  when  he  returned  home. 

I  could  mention  instances  within  my  own  ex- 
perience in  which  the  visualising  faculty  has  become 
strengthened  by  practice ;  notably  one  of  an  eminent 
electrical  engineer,  who  had  the  power  of  recalling 
form  with  unusual  precision,  but  not  colour.     A  few 


MENTAL   IMAGERY.  107 

weeks  after  lie  had  replied  to  my  questions,  he  told 
me  that  my  inquiries  had  induced  him  to  practise  his 
colour  memory,  and  that  he  had  done  so  with  such 
success  that  he  was  become  quite  an  adept  at  it,  and 
that  the  newly-acquired  power  was  a  source  of  much 
pleasure  to  him. 

A  useful  faculty,  easily  developed  by  practice,  is 
that  of  retaining  a  retinal  picture.  A  scene  is  flashed 
upon  the  eye ;  the  memory  of  it  persists,  and  details, 
which  escaped  observation  during  the  brief  time 
when  it  was  actually  seen,  may  be  analysed  and 
studied  at  leisure  in  the  subsequent  vision. 

The  memories  we  should  aim  at  acquiring  are, 
however,  such  as  are  based  on  a  thorough  under- 
standing of  the  objects  observed.  In  no  case  is  this 
more  surely  effected  than  in  the  processes  of  mechan- 
ical drawing,  where  the  intended  structure  has  to  be 
portrayed  so  exactly  in  plan,  elevation,  side  view, 
and  sections,  that  the  workman  has  simply  to  copy 
the  drawing  in  metal,  wood,  or  stone,  as  the  case 
may  be.  It  is  undoubtedly  the  fact  that  mechani- 
cians, engineers,  and  architects  usually  possess  the 
faculty  of  seeing  mental  images  with  remarkable 
clearness  and  precision. 

A  few  dots  like  those  used  by  the  Bushmen  give 
great  assistance  in  creating  an  imaginary  picture,  as 
proved  by  our  general  habit  of  working  out  ideas  by 
the  help  of  marks  and  rude  lines.  The  use  of  dolls 
by  children  also  testifies  to  the  value  of  an  objective 
support  in  the  construction  of  mental  images.  The 
doll  serves  as  a  kind  of  skeleton  for  the  child  to  clothe 


108  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

with  fantastic  attributes,  and  the  less  individuality 
the  doll  has,  the  more  it  is  appreciated  by  the  child, 
who  can  the  better  utilise  it  as  a  lay  figure  in  many 
different  characters.  The  chief  art  of  strengthening 
visual,  as  well  as  every  other  form  of  memory,  lies  in 
multiplying  associations  ;  the  healthiest  memory  being 
that  in  which  all  the  associations  are  logical,  and 
toward  which  all  the  senses  concur  in  their  due  pro- 
portions. It  is  wonderful  how  much  the  vividness  of 
a  recollection  is  increased  when  two  or  more  lines  of 
association  are  simultaneously  excited.  Thus  the 
inside  of  a  known  house  is  much  better  visualised 
when  we  are  looking  at  its  outside  than  when  we  are 
away  from  it,  and  some  chess-players  have  told  me 
that  it  is  easier  for  them  to  play  a  game  from  memory 
when  they  have  a  blank  board  before  them  than 
when  they  have  not. 

There  is  an  absence  of  flexibility  in  the  mental 
imagery  of  most  persons.  They  find  that  the  first 
image  they  have  acquired  of  any  scene  is  apt  to  hold 
its  place  tenaciously  in  spite  of  subsequent  need  of 
correction.  They  find  a  difficulty  in  shifting  their 
mental  view  of  an  object,  and  examining  it  at  pleasure 
in  different  positions.  If  they  see  an  object  equally 
often  in  many  positions  the  memories  combine  and 
confuse  one  another,  forming  a  "composite"  blur,  which 
they  cannot  dissect  into  its  components.  They  are  less 
able  to  visualise  the  features  of  intimate  friends  than 
those  of  persons  of  whom  they  have  caught  only  a 
single  glance.  Many  such  persons  have  expressed  to 
me  their  grief  at  finding  themselves  powerless  to  recall 


MENTAL    IMAGERY.  109 

the  looks  of  dear  relations  whom  they  had  lost,  while 
they  had  no  difficulty  in  recollecting  faces  that  were 
uninteresting  to  them. 

Others  have  a  complete  mastery  over  their  mental 
images.  They  can  call  up  the  figure  of  a  friend  and  make 
it  sit  on  a  chair  or  stand  up  at  will ;  they  can  make  it 
turn  round  and  attitudinise  in  any  way,  as  by  mount- 
ing it  on  a  bicycle  or  compelling  it  to  perform  gym- 
nastic feats  on  a  trapeze.  They  are  able  to  build  up 
elaborate  geometric  structures  bit  by  bit  in  their  mind's 
eye,  and  add,  subtract,  or  alter  at  will  and  at  leisure. 
This  free  action  of  a  vivid  visualising  faculty  is  of  much 
importance  in  connection  with  the  higher  processes  of 
generalised  thought,  though  it  is  commonly  put  to  no 
such  purpose,  as  may  be  easily  explained  by  an  example. 
Suppose  a  person  suddenly  to  accost  another  with  the 
following  words  : — "  I  want  to  tell  you  about  a  boat." 
What  is  the  idea  that  the  word  "  boat "  would  be  likely 
to  call  up  ?  I  tried  the  experiment  with  this  result. 
One  person,  a  young  lady,  said  that  she  immediately 
saw  the  image  of  a  rather  large  boat  pushing  off  from 
the  shore,  and  that  it  was  full  of  ladies  and  gentlemen, 
the  ladies  being  dressed  in  white  and  blue.  It  is 
obvious  that  a  tendency  to  give  so  specific  an  inter- 
pretation to  a  general  word  is  absolutely  opposed  to 
philosophic  thought.  Another  person,  who  was  accus- 
tomed to  philosophise,  said  that  the  word  "  boat "  had 
aroused  no  definite  image,  because  he  had  purposely 
held  his  mind  in  suspense.  He  had  exerted  himself 
not  to  lapse  into  any  one  of  the  special  ideas  that  he 
felt  the  word  boat  was  ready  to  call  up,  such  as  a  skiff, 


110  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

wherry,  barge,  launch,  punt,  or  dingy.  Much  more  did 
he  refuse  to  think  of  any  one  of  these  with  any  parti- 
cular freight  or  from  any  particular  point  of  view.  A 
habit  of  suppressing  mental  imagery  must  therefore 
characterise  men  who  deal  much  with  abstract  ideas ; 
and  as  the  power  of  dealing  easily  and  firmly  with 
these  ideas  is  the  surest  criterion  of  a  high  order  of 
intellect,  we  should  expect  that  the  visualising  faculty 
would  be  starved  by  disuse  among  philosophers,  and 
this  is  precisely  what  I  found  on  inquiry  to  be  the 
case. 

But  there  is  no  reason  why  it  should  be  so,  if  the 
faculty  is  free  in  its  action,  and  not  tied  to  reproduce 
hard  and  persistent  forms  ;  it  may  then  produce  gener- 
alised pictures  out  of  its  past  experiences  quite  auto- 
matically. It  has  no  difficulty  in  reducing  images  to 
the  same  scale,  owing  to  our  constant  practice  in  watch- 
ing objects  as  they  approach  or  recede,  and  conse- 
quently grow  or  diminish  in  apparent  size.  It  readily 
shifts  images  to  any  desired  point  of  the  field  of  view, 
owing  to  our  habit  of  looking  at  bodies  in  motion  to  the 
right  or  left,  upward  or  downward.  It  selects  images 
that  present  the  same  aspect,  either  by  a  simple  act  of 
memory  or  by  a  feat  of  imagination  that  forces  them 
into  the  desired  position,  and  it  has  little  or  no  diffi- 
culty in  reversing  them  from  right  to  left,  as  if  seen  in 
a  looking-glass.  In  illustration  of  these  generalised 
mental  images,  let  us  recur  to  the  boat,  and  suppose  the 
speaker  to  continue  as  follows : — "  The  boat  was  a  four- 
oared  racing-boat,  it  was  passing  quickly  to  the  left  just 
in  front  of  me,  and  the  men  were  bending  forward  to  take 


MENTAL   IMAGERY.  Ill 

a  fresh  stroke."  Now  at  this  point  of  the  story  the 
listener  ought  to  have  a  picture  well  before  his  eye. 
It  ought  to  have  the  distinctness  of  a  real  four-oar 
going  to  the  left,  at  the  moment  when  many  of  its 
details  still  remained  unheeded,  such  as  the  dresses  of 
the  men  and  their  individual  features.  It  would  be 
the  generic  image  of  a  four-oar  formed  by  the  combi- 
nation into  a  single  picture  of  a  great  many  sight 
memories  of  those  boats. 

In  the  highest  minds  a  descriptive  word  is  sufficient 
to  evoke  crowds  of  shadowy  associations,  each  striving 
to  manifest  itself.  When  they  differ  so  much  from 
one  another  as  to  be  unfitted  for  combination  into  a 
single  idea,  there  will  be  a  conflict,  each  being  prevented 
by  the  rest  from  obtaining  sole  possession  of  the  field 
of  consciousness.  There  could,  therefore,  be  no  defi- 
nite imagery  so  long  as  the  aggregate  of  all  the  pictures 
that  the  word  suggested  of  objects  presenting  similar 
aspects,  reduced  to  the  same  size,  and  accurately  super- 
posed, resulted  in  a  blur ;  but  a  picture  would  gradu- 
ally evolve  as  qualifications  were  added  to  the  word, 
and  it  would  attain  to  the  distinctness  and  vividness 
of  a  generic  image  long  before  the  word  had  been  so 
restricted  as  to  be  individualised.  If  the  intellect  be 
slow,  though  correct  in  its  operations,  the  associations 
will  be  fewj  and  the  generalised  image  based  on  insuffi- 
cient data.  If  the  visualising  power  be  faint,  the 
generalised  image  will  be  indistinct. 

I  cannot  discover  any  closer  relation  between  high 
visualising  power  and  the  intellectual  faculties  than 
between  verbal   memory  and  those   same  faculties. 


112  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

That  it  must  afford  immense  help  in  some  professions 
stands  to  reason,  but  in  ordinary  social  life  the  posses- 
sion of  a  high  visualising  power,  as  of  a  high  verbal 
memory,  may  pass  quite  unobserved.  I  have  to  the 
last  failed  in  anticipating  the  character  of  the  answers 
that  my  friends  would  give  to  my  inquiries,  judging 
from  my  previous  knowledge  of  them ;  though  I  am 
bound  to  say  that,  having  received  their  answers,  I 
could  usually  persuade  myself  that  they  were  justi- 
fied by  my  recollections  of  their  previous  sayings  and 
conduct  generally. 

The  faculty  is  undoubtedly  useful  in  a  high  degree 
to  inventive  mechanicians,  and  the  great  majority  of 
those  whom  I  have  questioned  have  spoken  of  their 
powers  as  very  considerable.  They  invent  their  ma- 
chines as  they  walk,  and  see  them  in  height,  breadth, 
and  depth  as  real  objects,  and  they  can  also  see  them 
in  action.  In  fact,  a  periodic  action  of  any  kind 
appears  to  be  easily  recalled.  But  the  powers  of  other 
men  are  considerably  less ;  thus  an  engineer  officer  who 
has  himself  great  power  of  visual  memory,  and  who  has 
superintended  the  mathematical  education  of  cadets, 
doubts  if  one  in  ten  can  visualise  an  object  in  three 
dimensions.  I  should  have  thought  the  faculty  would 
be  common  among  geometricians,  but  many  of  the 
highest  seem  able  somehow  to  get  on  without  much  of 
it.  There  is  a  curious  dictum  of  Napoleon  I.  quoted 
in  Hume's  Precis  of  Modern  Tactics,  p.  15,  of  which 
I  can  neither  find  the  original  authority  nor  do 
I  fully  understand  the  meaning.  He  is  reported  to 
have  said   that  "  there   are   some   who,   from   some 


MENTAL    IMAGERY.  113 

physical  or  moral  peculiarity  of  character,  form  a  pic- 
ture (tableau)  of  everything.  No  matter  what  know- 
ledge, intellect,  courage,  or  good  qualities  they  may 
have,  these  men  are  unfit  to  command."  It  is  possible 
that  "  tableau  "  should  be  construed  rather  in  the  sense 
of  a  pictorial  composition,  which,  like  an  epigrammatic 
sentence,  may  be  very  complete  and  effective,  but  not 
altogether  true. 

There  can,  however,  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  utility 
of  the  visualising  faculty  when  it  is  duly  subordinated 
to  the  higher  intellectual  operations.  A  visual  image 
is  the  most  perfect  form  of  mental  representation 
wherever  the  shape,  position,  and  relations  of  objects 
in  space  are  concerned.  It  is  of  importance  in  every 
handicraft  and  profession  where  design  is  required. 
The  best  workmen  are  those  who  visualise  the  whole  of 
what  they  propose  to  do,  before  they  take  a  tool  in  their 
hands.  The  village  smith  and  the  carpenter  who  are 
employed  on  odd  jobs  employ  it  no  less  for  their  work 
than  the  mechanician,  the  engineer,  and  the  architect. 
The  lady's  maid  who  arranges  a  new  dress  requires 
it  for  the  same  reason  as  the  decorator  employed  on 
a  palace,  or  the  agent  who  lays  out  great  estates. 
Strategists,  artists  of  all  denominations,  physicists  who 
contrive  new  experiments,  and  in  short  all  who  do  not 
follow  routine,  have  need  of  it.  The  pleasure  its  use 
can  afford  is  immense.  I  have  many  correspondents 
who  say  that  the  delight  of  recalling  beautiful  scenery 
and  great  works  of  art  is  the  highest  that  they  know ; 
they  carry  whole  picture  galleries  in  their  minds. 
Our  bookish   and  wordy  education  tends  to  repress 

I 


114  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

this  valuable  gift  of  nature.  A  faculty  that  is  of  im- 
portance in  all  technical  and  artistic  occupations,  that 
gives  accuracy  to  our  perceptions,  and  justness  to  our 
generalisations,  is  starved  by  lazy  disuse,  instead  of 
being  cultivated  judiciously  in  such  a  way  as  will  on 
the  whole  bring  the  best  return.  I  believe  that  a 
serious  study  of  the  best  method  of  developing  and 
utilising  this  faculty,  without  prejudice  to  the  prac- 
tice of  abstract  thought  in  symbols,  is  one  of  the 
many  pressing  desiderata  in  the  yet  unformed  science 
of  education. 

Number- Forms. 

Persons  who  are  imaginative  almost  invariably 
think  of  numerals  in  some  form  of  visual  imagery. 
If  the  idea  of  six  occurs  to  them,  the  word  "  six," 
does  not  sound  in  their  mental  ear,  but  the  figure  6  in 
a  written  or  printed  form  rises  before  their  mental  eye. 
The  clearness  of  the  images  of  numerals,  and  the  num- 
ber of  them  that  can  be  mentally  viewed  at  the  same 
time,  differs  greatly  in  different  persons.  The  most 
common  case  is  to  see  only  two  or  three  figures  at 
once,  and  in  a  position  too  vague  to  admit  of  defini- 
tion. There  are  a  few  persons  in  whom  the  visualising 
faculty  is  so  low  that  they  can  mentally  see  neither 
numerals  nor  anything  else ;  and  again  there  are 
a  few  in  whom  it  is  so  high  as  to  give  rise  to 
hallucinations.  Those  who  are  able  to  visualise  a 
numeral  with  a  distinctness  comparable  to  reality,  and 
to  behold  it  as  if  it  were  before  their  eves,  and  not  in 


NUMBER-FORMS.  115 

some  sort  of  dreamland,  will  define  the  direction  in 
which  it  seems  to  lie,  and  the  distance  at  which  it 
appears  to  be.  If  they  were  looking  at  a  ship  on  the 
horizon  at  the  moment  that  the  figure  6  happened  to 
present  itself  to  their  minds,  they  could  say  whether 
the  image  lay  to  the  left  or  right  of  the  ship,  and 
whether  it  was  above  or  below  the  line  of  the  horizon ; 
they  could  always  point  to  a  definite  spot  in  space, 
and  say  with  more  or  less  precision  that  that  was  the 
direction  in  which  the  image  of  the  figure  they  were 
thinking  of,  first  appeared. 

Now  the  strange  psychological  fact  to  which  I 
desire  to  draw  attention,  is  that  among  persons  who 
visualise  figures  clearly  there  are  many  who  notice 
that  the  image  of  the  same  figure  invariably  makes  its 
first  appearance  in  the  same  direction,  and  at  the 
same  distance.  Such  a  person  would  always  see  the 
figure  when  it  first  appeared  to  him  at  (we  may  sup- 
pose) one  point  of  the  compass  to  the  left  of  the  line 
between  his  eye  and  the  ship,  at  the  level  of  the  hor- 
izon, and  at  twenty  feet  distance.  Again,  we  may 
suppose  that  he  would  see  the  figure  7  invariably 
half  a  point  to  the  left  of  the  ship,  at  an  altitude 
equal  to  the  sun's  diameter  above  the  horizon,  and  at 
thirty  feet  distance  ;  similarly  for  all  the  other  figures. 
Consequently,  when  he  thinks  of  the  series  of  numer- 
als 1,  2,  3,  4,  etc.,  they  show  themselves  in  a  definite 
pattern  that  always  occupies  an  identical  position  in 
his  field  of  view  with  respect  to  the  direction  in  which 
he  is  looking. 

Those   who    do    not    see   figures   with   the    same 


116  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

objectivity,  use  nevertheless  the  same  expressions 
with  reference  to  their  mental  field  of  view.  They 
can  draw  what  they  see  in  a  manner  fairly  satisfactory 
to  themselves,  but  they  do  not  locate  it  so  strictly  in 
reference  to  their  axis  of  sight  and  to  the  horizontal 
plane  that  passes  through  it.  It  is  with  them  as  in 
dreams,  the  imagery  is  before  and  around,  but  the 
eyes  during  sleep  are  turned  inwards  and  upwards. 

The  pattern  or  "  Form "  in  which  the  numerals 
are  seen  is  by  no  means  the  same  in  different  persons, 
but  assumes  the  most  grotesque  variety  of  shapes, 
which  run  in  all  sorts  of  angles,  bends,  curves,  and 
zigzags  as  represented  in  the  various  illustrations  to 
this  chapter.  The  drawings,  however,  fail  in  giving 
the  idea  of  their  apparent  size  to  those  who  see  them  ; 
they  usually  occupy  a  wider  range  than  the  mental 
eye  can  take  in  at  a  single  glance,  and  compel  it  to 
wander.     Sometimes  they  are  nearly  panoramic. 

These  Forms  have  for  the  most  part  certain  charac- 
teristics in  common.  They  are  stated  in  all  cases  to 
have  been  in  existence  so  far  as  the  earlier  numbers 
in  the  Form  are  concerned,  as  long  back  as  the  memory 
extends  ;  they  come  into  view  quite  independently  of 
the  will,  and  their  shape  and  position,  at  all  events  in 
the  mental  field  of  view,  is  nearly  invariable.  They 
have  other  points  in  common  to  which  I  shall  shortly 
draw  attention,  but  first  I  will  endeavour  to  remove 
all  doubt  as  to  the  authenticity  and  trustworthiness 
of  these  statements. 

I  see  no  "Form"  myself,  and  first  ascertained 
that  such  a  thing  existed  through  a  letter  from  Mr. 


NUMBER-FORMS.  117 

G.  Bidder,  Q.C.,  in  which  he  described  his  own  case 
as  a  very  curious  peculiarity.  I  was  at  the  time 
making  inquiries  about  the  strength  of  the  visualising 
faculty  in  different  persons,  and  among  the  numerous 
replies  that  reached  me  I  soon  collected  ten  or  twelve 
other  cases  in  which  the  writers  spoke  of  their  see- 
ing numerals  in  definite  forms.  Though  the  infor- 
mation came  from  independent  sources,  the  expres- 
sions used  were  so  closely  alike  that  they  strongly 
corroborated  one  another.  Of  course  I  eagerly  fol- 
lowed up  the  inquiry,  and  when  I  had  collected 
enough  material  to  justify  publication,  I  wrote  an 
account  which  appeared  in  Nature  on  15th  January 
1880,  with  several  illustrations.  This  has  led  to  a 
wide  correspondence  and  to  a  much -increased  store 
of  information,  which  enables  me  to  arrive  at  the 
following  conclusions.  The  answers  I  received  when- 
ever I  have  pushed  my  questions,  have  been  straight- 
forward and  precise.  I  have  not  unfrequently  pro- 
cured a  second  sketch  of  the  Form  even  after  more 
than  two  years'  interval,  and  found  it  to  agree  closely 
with  the  first  one.  I  have  also  questioned  many  of 
my  own  friends  in  general  terms  as  to  whether  they 
visualise  numbers  in  any  particular  way.  The  large 
majority  are  unable  to  do  so.  But  every  now  and 
then  I  meet  with  persons  who  possess  the  faculty, 
and  1  have  become  familiar  with  the  quick  look  of 
intelligence  with  which  they  receive  my  question. 
It  is  as  though  some  chord  had  been  struck  which 
had  not  been  struck  before,  and  the  verbal  answers 
they  give  me  are  precisely  of  the  same  type  as  those 


118  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

written  ones  of  which  I  have  now  so  many.  I  cannot 
doubt  of  the  authenticity  of  independent  statements 
which  closely  confirm  one  another,  nor  of  the  general 
accuracy  of  the  accompanying  sketches,  because  I  find 
now  that  my  collection  is  large  enough  for  classifica- 
tion, that  they  might  be  arranged  in  an  approximately 
continuous  series.  I  am  often  told  that  the  peculiar- 
ity is  common  to  the  speaker  and  to  some  near  rela- 
tive, and  that  they  had  found  such  to  be  the  case  by 
accident.  I  have  the  strongest  evidence  of  its  here- 
ditary character  after  allowing,  and  over-allowing,  for 
all  conceivable  influences  of  education  and  family 
tradition. 

Last  of  all,  I  took  advantage  of  the  opportunity 
afforded  by  a  meeting  of  the  Anthropological  Institute 
to  read  a  memoir  there  on  the  subject,  and  to  bring 
with  me  many  gentlemen  well  known  in  the  scientific 
world,  who  have  this  habit  of  seeing  numerals  in 
Forms,  and  whose  diagrams  were  suspended  on  the 
walls.  Amongst  them  are  Mr.  G.  Bidder,  Q.C.,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  G.  Henslow,  the  botanist;  Prof.  Schuster, 
F.K.S.,  the  physicist;  Mr.  Roget,  Mr.  Woodd  Smith, 
and  Colonel  Yule,  C.B.,  the  geographer.  These  dia- 
grams are  given  in  Plate  I.  Figs.  20-24.  I  wished 
that  some  of  my  foreign  correspondents  could  also 
have  been  present,  such  as  M.  Antoine  d'Abbadie,  the 
well-known  French  traveller  and  Membre  de  l'ln- 
stitut,  and  Baron  v.  Osten  Sacken,  the  Russian  diplo- 
matist and  entomologist,  for  they  had  given  and 
procured  me  much  information. 

I  feel  sure  that  I  have  now  said  enough  to  remove 


NUMBER-FORMS.  119 

doubts  as  to  the  authenticity  of  my  data.  Their 
trustworthiness  will,  I  trust,  be  still  more  apparent 
as  I  proceed ;  it  has  been  abundantly  manifest  to 
myself  from  the  internal  evidences  in  a  large  mass  of 
correspondence,  to  which  I  can  unfortunately  do  no 
adequate  justice  in  a  brief  memoir.  It  remains  to 
treat  the  data  in  the  same  way  as  any  other  scientific 
facts  and  to  extract  as  much  meaning  from  them  as 
possible. 

The  peculiarity  in  question  is  found,  speaking 
very  roughly,  in  about  1  out  of  every  30  adult  males 
or  15  females.  It  consists  in  the  sudden  and  auto- 
matic appearance  of  a  vivid  and  invariable  "  Form  " 
in  the  mental  field  of  view,  whenever  a  numeral  is 
thought  of,  and  in  which  each  numeral  has  its  own 
definite  place.  This  Form  may  consist  of  a  mere  line 
of  any  shape,  of  a  peculiarly  arranged  row  or  rows  of 
figures,  or  of  a  shaded  space. 

I  give  woodcuts  of  representative  specimens  of 
these  Forms,  and  very  brief  descriptions  of  them 
extracted  from  the  letters  of  my  correspondents. 
Sixty-three  other  diagrams  on  a  smaller  scale  will  be 
found  in  Plates  I.,  II.  and  III.,  and  two  more  which 
are  coloured  are  given  in  Plate  IV. 

D.  A.  "  From  the  very  first  I  have  seen  numerals  up  to 
nearly  200,  range  themselves  always  in  a  particular  manner,  and 
in  thinking  of  a  number  it  always  takes  its  place  in  the  figure. 
The  more  attention  I  give  to  the  properties  of  numbers  and  their 
interpretations,  the  less  I  am  troubled  with  this  clumsy  frame- 
work for  tbem,  but  it  is  indelible  in  my  mind's  eye  even  when 
for  a  long  time  less  consciously  so.  The  higher  numbers  are  to 
me  quite  abstract  and  unconnected  with  a  shape.     This  rough 


120 


INQUIRIES   INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 


and  untidy1  production  is  the  best  I  can  do  towards  representing 
what  I  see.     There  was  a  little  difficulty  in  the  performance, 


because  it  is  only  by  catching  oneself  at  unawares,  so  to  speak, 
that  one  is  quite  sure  that  what  one  sees  is  not  affected  by 
temporary  imagination.  But  it  does  not  seem  much  like,  chiefly 
because  the  mental  picture  never  seems  on  the  flat  but  in  a  thick, 
dark  gray  atmosphere  deepening  in  certain  parts,  especially  where 
1  emerges,  and  about  20.  How  I  get  from  100  to  120  I  hardly 
know,  though  if  I  could  require  these  figures  a  few  times  without 
thinking  of  them  on  purpose,  I  should  soon  notice.  About  200 
I  lose  all  framework.  I  do  not  see  the  actual  figures  very 
distinctly,  but  what  there  is  of  them  is  distinguished  from  the 


1  The  engraver  took  much  pains  to  interpret  the  meaning  of  the 
rather  faint  but  carefully  made  drawing,  by  strengthening  some  of 
the  shades.  The  result  was  very  very  satisfactory,  judging  from  the 
author's  own  view  of  it,  which  is  as  follows  : — "  Certainly  if  the  en- 
graver has  been  as  successful  with  all  the  other  representations  as  with 
that  of  my  shape  and  its  accompaniments,  your  article  must  be  entirely 
correct." 


NUMBER-FORMS. 


121 


dark  by  a  thin  whitish  tracing.  It  is  the  place  they  take  and 
the  shape  they  make  collectively  which  is  invariable.  Nothing 
more  definitely  takes  its  place  than  a  person's  age.  The  person 
is  usually  there  so  long  as  his  age  is  in  mind." 

T.  M.  "The  representation  I  carry  in  my  mind  of  the 
numerical  series  is  quite  distinct  to  me,  so  much  so  that  I  cannot 
think  of  any  number  but  I  at  once  see  it  (as  it  were)  in  its 
peculiar  place  in  the  diagram.  My  remembrance  of  dates  is 
also  nearly  entirely  dependent  on  a  clear  mental  vision  of  their 
loci  in  the  diagram.  This,  as  nearly  as  I  can  draw  it,  is  the 
following : — 


V 


tffl 


It  is  only  approximately  correct  (if  the  term  '  correct '  be  at  all 
applicable).  The  numbers  seem  to  approach  more  closely  as  I 
ascend  from  10  to  20,  30,  40,  etc.  The  lines  embracing  a 
hundred  numbers  also  seem  to  approach  as  I  go  on  to  400,  500, 
to  1000.  Beyond  1000  I  have  only  the  sense  of  an  infinite  line 
in  the  direction  of  the  arrow,  losing  itself  in  darkness  towards 
the  millions.  Any  special  number  of  thousands  returns  in  my 
mind  to  its  position  in  the  parallel  lines  from  1  to  1000.  The 
diagram  was  present  in  my  mind  from  early  childhood ;  I 
remember  that  I  learnt  the  multiplication  table  by  reference  to 


122  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

it  at  the  age  of  seven  or  eight.  I  need  hardly  say  that  the 
impression  is  not  that  of  perfectly  straight  lines,  I  have  therefore 
used  no  ruler  in  drawing  it." 

J.  S.  "  The  figures  are  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  length, 
and  in  ordinary  type.  They  are  black  on  a  white  ground.  The 
numeral  200  generally  takes  the  place  of  100  and  obliterates  it. 
There  is  no  light  or  shade,  and  the  picture  is  invariable." 


no 

JJO 


In  some  cases,  the  mental  eye  has  to  travel  along 
the  faintly-marked  and  blank  paths  of  a  Form,  to  the 
place  where  the  numeral  that  is  wanted  is  known  to 
reside,  and  then  the  figure  starts  into  sight.  In  other 
cases  all  the  numerals,  as  far  as  100  or  more,  are 
faintly  seen  at  once,  but  the  figure  that  is  wanted 
grows  more  vivid  than  its  neighbours  ;  in  one  of  the 
cases  there  is,  as  it  were,  a  chain,  and  the  particular 
link  rises  as  if  an  unseen  hand  had  lifted  it.  The 
Forms  are  sometimes  variously  coloured,  occasionally 
very  brilliantly  (see  Plate  IV).  In  all  of  these  the 
definition  and  illumination  vary  much  in  different 
parts.  Usually  the  Forms  fade  away  into  indistinct- 
ness after  100  ;  sometimes  they  come  to  a  dead  stop. 
The  higher  numbers  very  rarely  fill  so  large  a  space 
in  the  Forms  as  the  lower  ones,  and  the  diminution 


NUMBER-FORMS.  123 

of  space  occupied  by  them  is  so  increasingly  rapid 
that  I  thought  it  not  impossible  they  might  diminish 
according  to  some  geometrical  law,  such  as  that  which 
governs  sensitivity.  I  took  many  careful  measure- 
ments and  averaged  them,  but  the  result  did  not 
justify  the  supposition. 

It  is  beyond  dispute  that  these  forms  originate  at 
an  early  age  ;  they  are  subsequently  often  developed 
in  boyhood  and  youth  so  as  to  include  the  higher 
numbers,  and,  among  mathematical  students,  the 
negative  values. 

Nearly  all  of  my  correspondents  speak  with  con- 
fidence of  their  Forms  having  been  in  existence  as  far 
back  as  they  recollect.  One  states  that  he  knows  he 
possessed  it  at  the  age  of  four ;  another,  that  he  learnt 
his  multiplication  table  by  the  aid  of  the  elaborate 
mental  diagram  he  still  uses.  Not  one  in  ten  is  able 
to  suggest  any  clue  as  to  their  origin.  They  cannot 
be  due  to  anything  written  or  printed,  because  they 
do  not  simulate  what  is  found  in  ordinarv  writings  or 

•  o 

books. 

About  one-third  of  the  figures  are  curved  to  the 
left,  two-thirds  to  the  right ;  they  run  more  often 
upward  than  downward.  They  do  not  commonly  lie 
in  a  single  plane.  Sometimes  a  Form  has  twists  as 
well  as  bends,  sometimes  it  is  turned  upside  down, 
sometimes  it  plunges  into  an  abyss  of  immeasurable 
depth,  or  it  rises  and  disappears  in  the  sky.  My 
correspondents  are  often  in  difficulties  when  trying  to 
draw  them  in  perspective.  One  sent  me  a  stereo- 
scopic picture  photographed  from  a  wire  that  had 


124  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

been  bent  into  the  proper  shape.  In  one  case  the  Form 
proceeds  at  first  straightforward,  then  it  makes  a 
backward  sweep  high  above  head,  and  finally  recurves 
into  the  pocket,  of  all  places !  It  is  often  sloped 
upwards  at  a  slight  inclination  from  a  little  below  the 
level  of  the  eye,  just  as  objects  on  a  table  would 
appear  to  a  child  whose  chin  was  barely  above  it. 

It  may  seem  strange  that  children  should  have 
such  bold  conceptions  as  of  curves  sweeping  loftily 
upward  or  downward  to  immeasurable  depths,  but 
I  think  it  may  be  accounted  for  by  their  much  larger 
personal  experience  of  the  vertical  dimension  of  space 
than  adults.  They  are  lifted,  tossed  and  swung,  but 
adults  pass  their  lives  very  much  on  a  level,  and  only 
judge  of  heights  by  inference  from  the  picture  on 
their  retina.  Whenever  a  man  first  ventures  up  in  a 
balloon,  or  is  let,  like  a  gatherer  of  sea-birds'  eggs, 
over  the  face  of  a  precipice,  he  is  conscious  of  having 
acquired  a  much  extended  experience  of  the  third 
dimension  of  space. 

The  character  of  the  forms  under  which  historical 
dates  are  visualised  contrast  strongly  with  the  ordi- 
nary Number -Forms.  They  are  sometimes  copied 
from  the  numerical  ones,  but  they  are  more  commonly 
based  both  clearly  and  consciously  on  the  diagrams 
used  in  the  schoolroom  or  on  some  recollected  fancy. 

The  months  of  the  year  are  usually  perceived 
as  ovals,  and  they  as  often  follow  one  another  in  a 
reverse  direction  to  those  of  the  figures  on  the  clock, 
as  in  the  same  direction.  It  is  a  common  peculiarity 
that  the  months  do  not  occupy  equal  spaces,  but  those 


NUMBER-FORMS.  125 

that  are  most  important  to  the  child  extend  more 
widely  than  the  rest.  There  are  many  varieties  as  to 
the  topmost  month;  it  is  by  no  means  always  January. 

The  Forms  of  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  when  im- 
aged, as  they  sometimes  are,  in  that  way,  are  equally 
easy  to  be  accounted  for,  therefore  the  ordinary 
Number-Form  is  the  oldest  of  all,  and  consequently 
the  most  interesting.  I  suppose  that  it  first  came 
into  existence  when  the  child  was  learning  to  count, 
and  was  used  by  him  as  a  natural  mnemonic  diagram, 
to  which  he  referred  the  spoken  words  "  one,"  "  two," 
"three,"  etc.  Also,  that  as  soon  as  he  began  to  read, 
the  visual  symbol  figures  supplanted  their  verbal 
sounds,  and  permanently  established  themselves  on 
the  Form.  It  therefore  existed  at  an  earlier  date 
than  that  at  which  the  child  began  to  learn  to  read ; 
it  represents  his  mental  processes  at  a  time  of  which 
no  other  record  remains  ;  it  persists  in  vigorous 
activity,  and  offers  itself  freely  to  our  examination. 

The  teachers  of  many  schools  and  colleges,  some 
in  America,  have  kindly  questioned  their  pupils  for 
me  ;  the  results  are  given  in  the  two  first  columns  of 
Plate  I.  It  appears  that  the  proportion  of  young 
people  who  see  numerals  in  Forms  is  greater  than  that 
of  adults.  But  for  the  most  part  their  Forms  are 
neither  well  defined  nor  complicated.  I  conclude 
that  when  they  are  too  faint  to  be  of  service  they 
are  gradually  neglected,  and  become  wholly  forgotten  ; 
while  if  they  are  vivid  and  useful,  they  increase  in 
vividness  and  definition  by  the  effect  of  habitual  use. 
Hence,  in  adults,  the  two  classes  of  seers  and  non- 


126  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

seers  are  rather  sharply  defined,  the  connecting  link 
of  intermediate  cases  which  is  observable  in  childhood 
having  disappeared. 

These  Forms  are  the  most  remarkable  existing 
instances  of  what  is  called  "  topical "  memory,  the 
essence  of  which  appears  to  lie  in  the  establishment 
of  a  more  exact  system  of  division  of  labour  in  the 
different  parts  of  the  brain,  than  is  usually  carried 
on.  Topical  aids  to  memory  are  of  the  greatest 
service  to  many  persons,  and  teachers  of  mnemonics 
make  large  use  of  them,  as  by  advising  a  speaker  to 
mentally  associate  the  corners,  etc.,  of  a  room  with 
the  chief  divisions  of  the  speech  he  is  about  to 
deliver.  Those  who  feel  the  advantage  of  these  aids 
most  strongly  are  the  most  likely  to  cultivate  the  use 
of  numerical  forms.  I  have  read  many  books  on 
mnemonics,  and  cannot  doubt  their  utility  to  some 
persons  ;  to  myself  the  system  is  of  no  avail  what- 
ever, but  simply  a  stumbling-block,  nevertheless 
I  am  well  aware  that  many  of  my  early  associations 
are  fanciful  and  silly. 

The  question  remains,  why  do  the  lines  of  the 
Forms  run  in  such  strange  and  peculiar  ways  ?  the 
reply  is,  that  different  persons  have  natural  fancies 
for  different  lines  and  curves.  Their  handwriting 
shows  this,  for  handwriting  is  by  no  means  solely 
dependent  on  the  balance  of  the  muscles  of  the  hand, 
causing  such  and  such  strokes  to  be  made  with 
greater  facility  than  others.  Handwriting  is  greatly 
modified  by  the  fashion  of  the  time.  It  is  in  reality 
a  compromise  between  what  the  writer  most  likes  to 


|M    : 


NUMBER-FORMS.  127 

produce,  and  what  he  can  produce  with  the  greatest 
ease  to  himself.  I  am  sure,  too,  that  I  can  trace  a 
connection  between  the  general  look  of  the  hand- 
writings of  my  various  correspondents  and  the  lines 
of  their  Forms.  If  a  spider  were  to  visualise  nu- 
merals, we  might  expect  he  would  do  so  in  some  web- 
shaped  fashion,  and  a  bee  in  hexagons.  The  definite 
domestic  architecture  of  all  animals  as  seen  in  their 
nests  and  holes  shows  the  universal  tendency  of  each 
species  to  pursue  their  work  according  to  certain 
definite  lines  and  shapes,  which  are  to  them  instinc- 
tive and  in  no  way,  we  may  presume,  logical.  The 
same  is  seen  in  the  groups  and  formations  of  flocks 
of  gregarious  animals  and  in  the  flights  of  gregarious 
birds,  among  which  the  wedge-shaped  phalanx  of 
wild  ducks  and  the  huge  globe  of  soaring  storks  are 
as  remarkable  as  any. 

I  used  to  be  much  amused  during  past  travels 
in  watching  the  different  lines  of  search  that  were 
pursued  by  different  persons  in  looking  for  objects 
lost  on  the  ground,  when  the  encampment  was  being 
broken  up.  Different  persons  had  decided  idiosyn- 
cracies,  so  much  so  that  if  their  travelling  line  of 
sight  could  have  scored  a  mark  on  the  ground,  I 
think  the  system  of  each  person  would  have  been  as 
characteristic  as  his  Number-Form. 

Children  learn  their  figures  to  some  extent  by 
those  on  the  clock.  I  cannot,  however,  trace  the 
influence  of  the  clock  on  the  Forms  in  more  than  a 
few  cases.  In  two  of  them  the  clock-face  actually 
appears,  in  others  it  has  evidently  had  a  strong  influ- 


128  INQUIRIES    INTO   HUMAN    FACULTY. 

ence,  and  in  the  rest  its  influence  is  indicated,  but 
nothing  more.  I  suppose  that  the  complex  Eoman 
numerals  in  the  clock  do  not  fit  in  sufficiently  well 
with  the  simpler  ideas  based  upon  the  Arabic  ones. 

The  other  traces  of  the  origin  of  the  Forms  that 
appear  here  and  there,  are  dominoes,  cards,  counters, 
an  abacus,  the  fingers,  counting  by  coins,  feet  and 
inches  (a  yellow  carpenter's  rule  appears  in  one  case 
with  56  in  large  figures  upon  it),  the  country  sur- 
rounding the  child's  home,  with  its  hills  and  dales, 
objects  in  the  garden  (one  scientific  man  sees  the  old 
garden  walk  and  the  numeral  7  at  a  tub  sunk  in 
the  ground  where  his  father  filled  his  watering-pot). 
Some  associations  seem  connected  with  the  objects 
spoken  of  in  the  doggerel  verses  by  which  children 
are  often  taught  their  numbers. 

But  the  paramount  influence  proceeds  from  the 
names  of  the  numerals.  Our  nomenclature  is  per- 
fectly barbarous,  and  that  of  other  civilised  nations 
is  not  better  than  ours,  and  frequently  worse, 
as  the  French  "  quatre-vingt  dix-huit,"  or  "  four 
score,  ten  and  eight,"  instead  of  eighty- eight.  We 
speak  of  ten,  eleven,  twelve,  thirteen,  etc.,  in  defiance 
of  the  beautiful  system  of  decimal  notation  in  which 
we  write  those  numbers.  What  we  see  is  one-naught, 
one-one,  one-two,  etc.,  and  we  should  pronounce  on 
that  principle,  with  this  proviso,  that  the  word  for  the 
"  one  "  having  to-  show  both  the  place  and  the  value, 
should  have  a  sound  suggestive  of  "one"  but  not 
identical  with  it.  Let  us  suppose  it  to  be  the  letter 
o  pronounced  short  as  in  "  on,"   then  instead  of  ten, 


NUMBER-FORMS.  129 

eleven,  twelve,  thirteen,  etc.,  we  might  say  on-naught 
on-one,  on-tivo,  on-ihree,  etc. 

The  conflict  between  the  two  systems  creates  a 
perplexity,  to  which  conclusive  testimony  is  borne  by 
these  numerical  forms.  In  most  of  them  there  is  a 
marked  hitch  at  the  12,  and  this  repeats  itself  at  the 
120.  The  run  of  the  lines  between  1  and  20  is 
rarely  analogous  to  that  between  20  and  100,  where 
it  usually  first  becomes  regular.  The  'teens  frequently 
occupy  a  larger  space  than  their  due.  It  is  not  easy 
to  define  in  words  the  variety  of  traces  of  the  diffi- 
culty and  annoyance  caused  by  our  unscientific 
nomenclature,  that  are  portrayed  vividly,  and,  so  to 
speak,  painfully  in  these  pictures.  They  are  indelible 
scars  that  testify  to  the  effort  and  ingenuity  with 
which  a  sort  of  compromise  was  struggled  for  and 
has  finally  been  effected  between  the  verbal  and 
decimal  systems.  I  am  sure  that  this  difficulty  is 
more  serious  and  abiding  than  has  been  suspected, 
not  only  from  the  persistency  of  these  twists  which 
would  have  long  since  been  smoothed  away  if  they 
did  not  continue  to  subserve  some  useful  purpose,  but 
also  from  experiments  on  my  own  mind.  I  find  I 
can  deal  mentally  with  simple  sums  with  much  less 
strain  if  I  audibly  conceive  the  figures  as  on-naught, 
on-one,  etc.,  and  I  can  both  dictate  and  write  from 
dictation  with  much  less  trouble  when  that  system 
or  some  similar  one  is  adopted.  I  have  little  doubt 
that  our  nomenclature  is  a  serious  though  unsus- 
pected hindrance  to  the  ready  adoption  by  the 
public  of  a  decimal  system  of  weights  and  measures. 

K 


130  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

Three   quarters   of    the    Forms   bear   a   duodecimal 
impress. 

I  will  now  give  brief  explanations  of  the  Number- 
Forms  drawn  in  Plates  L,  II.,  and  III.,  and  in  the  two 
front  figures  in  Plate  IV. 


Description  of  Plate  I. 

Fig.  1  is  by  Mr.  Walter  Larden,  science-master  of 
Cheltenham  College,  who  sent  me  a  very  interesting 
and  elaborate  account  of  his  own  case,  which  by  itself 
would  make  a  memoir;  and  he  has  collected  other 
information  for  me.  The  Number-Forms  of  one  of  his 
colleagues  and  of  that  gentleman's  sister  are  given  in 
Figs.  53,  54,  Plate  III.  I  extract  the  following  from 
Mr.  Larden's  letter — it  is  all  for  which  I  can  find 
space : — 

"  All  numbers  are  to  me  as  images  of  figures  in  general ;  I  see 
them  in  ordinary  Arabic  type  (except  in  some  special  cases),  and  they 
have  definite  positions  in  space  (as  shown  in  the  Fig.)  Beyond  100 
I  am  conscious  of  coming  down  a  dotted  line  to  the  position  of 
1  again,  and  of  going  over  the  same  cycle  exactly  as  before,  e.g. 
with  120  in  the  place  of  20,  and  so  on  up  to  140  or  150.  With 
higher  numbers  the  imagery  is  less  definite;  thus,  for  1140,  I 
can  only  say  that  there  are  no  new  positions,  I  do  not  see  the 
entire  number  in  the  place  of  40  ;  but  if  I  think  of  it  as  11 
hundred  and  40,  I  see  40  in  its  place,  11  in  its  place,  and  100 
in  its  place  ;  the  picture  is  not  single  though  the  ideas  combine. 
I  seem  to  stand  near  1.  I  have  to  turn  somewhat  to  see  from 
30-40,  and  more  and  more  to  see  from  40-100  ;  100  lies  high 
up  to  my  right  and  behind  me.  I  see  no  shading  nor  colour  in 
the  figures." 


NUMBER-FORMS.  131 

Figs.  2  to  6  are  from  returns  collected  for  me  by 
the  Rev.  A.  D.  Hill,  science-master  of  Winchester 
College,  who  sent  me  replies  from  135  boys  of  an 
average  age  of  14-15.  He  says,  speaking  of  their 
replies  to  my  numerous  questions  on  visualising 
generally,  that  they  "  represent  fairly  those  who  could 
answer  anything  ;  the  boys  certainly  seemed  interested 
in  the  subject ;  the  others,  who  had  no  such  faculty 
either  attempting  and  failing,  or  not  finding  any 
response  in  their  minds,  took  no  interest  in  the  in- 
quiry." A  very  remarkable  case  of  hereditary  colour 
association  was  sent  to  me  by  Mr.  Hill,  to  which  I 
shall  refer  later.  The  only  five  good  cases  of  Number- 
Forms  among  the  135  boys  are  those  shown  in  the 
Figs.  I  need  only  describe  Fig.  2.  The  boy  says : 
— "  Numbers,  except  the  first  twenty,  appear  in 
waves;  the  two  crossing-lines,  60-70,  140-150,  never 
appear  at  the  same  time.  The  first  twelve  are  the 
image  of  a  clock,  and  13-20  a  continuation  of  them." 

Figs.  7,  8,  are  sent  me  by  Mr.  Henry  F.  Osborn 
of  Princeton  in  the  United  States,  who  has  given 
cordial  assistance  in  obtaining  information  as  regards 
visualising  generally.  These  two  are  the  only  Forms 
included  in  sixty  returns  that  he  sent,  34  of  which 
were  from  Princeton  College,  and  the  remaining  26 
from  Vassar  (female)  College. 

Figs.  9-19  and  Fig.  28  are  from  returns  communi- 
cated by  Mr.  W.  H.  Poole,  science-master  of  Charter- 
house College,  which  are  very  valuable  to  me  as  regards 


132  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

visualising  power  generally.  He  read  my  questions 
before  a  meeting  of  about  60  boys,  who  all  con- 
sented to  reply,  and  he  had  several  subsequent  volun- 
teers. All  the  answers  were  short,  straightforward, 
and  often  amusing.  Subsequently  the  inquiry  ex- 
tended, and  I  have  168  returns  from  him  in  all,  con- 
taining 12  good  Number-Forms,  shown  in  Figs.  9-19, 
and  in  Fig.  28.  The  first  Fig.  is  that  of  Mr.  Poole 
himself;  he  says,  "  The  line  only  represents  position  ; 
it  does  not  exist  in  my  mind.  After  100,  I  return  to 
my  old  starting-place,  e.g.  140  occupies  the  same 
position  as  40." 

The  gross  statistical  result  from  'the  schoolboys  is 
as  follows : — Total  returns,  337  ;  viz.  Winchester 
135,  Princeton  34,  Charterhouse  168  ;  the  number  of 
these  that  contained  well-defined  Number-Forms  are 
5,  1,  and  12  respectively,  or  total  18 — that  is,  one  in 
twenty.  It  may  justly  be  said  that  the  masters 
should  not  be  counted,  because  it  was  owing  to  the 
accident  of  their  seeing  the  Number-Forms  themselves 
that  they  became  interested  in  the  inquiry  ;  if  this 
objection  be  allowed,  the  proportion  would  become 
16  in  337,  or  one  in  twenty-one.  Again,  some  boys 
who  had  no  visualising  faculty  at  all  could  make  no 
sense  out  of  the  questions,  and  wholly  refrained 
from  answering ;  this  would  again  diminish  the  pro- 
portion. The  shyness  in  some  would  help  in  a 
statistical  return  to  neutralise  the  tendency  to  exag- 
geration in  others,  but  I  do  not  think  there  is  much 
room  for  correction  on  either  head.     Neither  do  I 


NUMBER-FORMS.  133 

think  it  requisite  to  make  muck  allowance  for  inac- 
curate answers,  as  the  tone  of  the  replies  is  simple  and 
straightforward.  Those  from  Princeton,  where  the 
students  are  older  and  had  been  especially  warned, 
are  remarkable  for  indications  of  self-restraint.  The 
result  of  personal  inquiries  among  adults,  quite  inde- 
pendent of  and  prior  to  these,  gave  me  the  proportion 
of  1  in  30  as  a  provisional  result  for  adults.  This  is 
as  well  confirmed  by  the  present  returns  of  1  in  21 
among  boys  and  youths  as  I  could  have  expected. 

I  have  not  a  sufficient  number  of  returns  from 
girls  for  useful  comparison  with  the  above,  though  I 
am  much  indebted  to  Miss  Lewis  for  33  reports,  to 
Miss  Cooper  of  Egbaston  for  10  reports  from  the 
female  teachers  at  her  school,  and  to  a  few  other 
schoolmistresses,  such  as  Miss  Stones  of  Carmarthen, 
whose  returns  I  have  utilised  in  other  ways.  The 
tendency  to  see  Number-Forms  is  certainly  higher  in 
girls  than  in  boys. 

Fig.  20  is  the  Form  of  Mr.  George  Bidder,  Q.C. ; 
it  is  of  much  interest  to  myself,  because  it  was,  as  I 
have  already  mentioned,  through  the  receipt  of  it  and 
an  accompanying  explanation  that  my  attention  was 
first  drawn  to  the  subject.  Mr.  G.  Bidder  is  son  of 
the  late  well-known  engineer,  the  famous  "  calcula- 
ting boy  "  of  the  bygone  generation,  whose  marvellous 
feats  in  mental  arithmetic  were  a  standing  wonder. 
The  faculty  is  hereditary.  Mr.  G.  Bidder  himself  has 
multiplied  mentally  fifteen  figures  by  another  fifteen 
figures,  but  with  less  facility  than  his  father.     It  has 


134  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

been  again  transmitted,  though  in  an  again  reduced 
degree,  to  the  third  generation.     He  says  : — 

"  One  of  the  most  curious  peculiarities  in  my  own  case  is  the 
arrangement  of  the  arithmetical  numerals.  I  have  sketched  this 
to  the  best  of  my  ability.  Every  number  (at  least  within  the 
first  thousand,  and  afterwards  thousands  take  the  place  of  units) 
is  always  thought  of  by  me  in  its  own  definite  place  in  the  series, 
where  it  has,  if  I  may  say  so,  a  home  and  an  individuality.  I 
should,  however,  qualify  this  by  saying  that  when  I  am  multi- 
plying together  two  large  numbers,  my  mind  is  engrossed  in  the 
operation,  and  the  idea  of  locality  in  the  series  for  the  moment 
sinks  out  of  prominence." 

Fig.  21  is  that  of  Prof.  Schuster,  F.R.S.,  whose 
visualising  powers  are  of  a  very  high  order,  and  who 
has  given  me  valuable  information,  but  want  of 
space  compels  me  to  extract  very  briefly.  He  says 
to  the  effect : — 

"  The  diagram  of  numerals  which  I  usually  see  has  roughly 
the  shape  of  a  horse-shoe,  lying  on  a  slightly  inclined  plane,  with 
the  open  end  towards  me.  It  always  comes  into  view  in  front 
of  me,  a  little  to  the  left,  so  that  the  right  hand  branch  of  the 
horse-shoe,  at  the  bottom  of  which  I  place  0,  is  in  front  of  my 
left  eye.  When  I  move  my  eyes  without  moving  my  head,  the 
diagram  remains  fixed  in  space  and  does  not  follow  the  move- 
ment of  my  eye.  When  I  move  the  head  the  diagram  uncon- 
sciously follows  the  movement,  but  I  can,  by  an  effort,  keep  it 
fixed  in  space  as  before.  I  can  also  shift  it  from  one  part  of  the 
field  to  the  other,  and  even  turn  it  upside  down.  I  use  the 
diagram  as  a  resting-place  for  the  memory,  placing  a  number  on 
it  and  finding  it  again  when  wanted.  A  remarkable  property  of 
the  diagram  is  a  sort  of  elasticity  which  enables  me  to  join  the 
two  ends  of  the  horse-shoe  together  when  I  want  to  connect  100 
with  0.  The  same  elasticity  causes  me  to  see  that  part  of  the 
diagram  on  which  I  fix  my  attention  larger  than  the  rest." 

Mr.   Schuster  makes  occasional  use  of  a  simpler 


NUMBER-FORMS.  135 

form  of  diagram,  which  is  little  more  than  a  straight 
line  variously  divided,  and  which  I  need  not  describe 
in  detail. 

Fig.  22  is  by  Colonel  Yule,  C.B. ;  it  is  simpler  than 
the  others,  and  he  has  found  it  to  become  sensibly 
weaker  in  later  years  ;  it  is  now  faint  and  hard  to  fix. 

Fig.  23.     Mr.  Woodd  Smith  :— 

"  Above  200  the  form  becomes  vague  and  is  soon  lost, 
except  that  999  is  always  in  a  corner  like  99.  My  own  position 
in  regard  to  it  is  generally  nearly  opposite  my  own  age,  which  is 
fifty  now,  at  which  point  I  can  face  either  towards  7-12,  or 
towards  12-20,  or  20-70,  but  never  (I  think)  with  my  back  to 
12-20." 

Fig.  24.  Mr.  Roget.  He  writes  to  the  effect  that 
the  first  twelve  are  clearly  derived  from  the  spots  in 
dominoes.  After  100  there  is  nothing  clear  but  108. 
The  form  is  so  deeply  engraven  in  his  mind  that  a 
strong  effort  of  the  will  was  required  to  substitute  any 
artificial  arrangement  in  its  place.  His  father,  the  late 
Dr.  Roget  (well  known  for  many  years  as  secretary  of 
the  Royal  Society),  had  trained  him  in  his  childhood 
to  the  use  of  the  memoria  technica  of  Feinagle,  in 
which  each  year  has  its  special  place  in  the  walls  of  a 
particular  room,  and  the  rooms  of  a  house  represent 
successive  centuries,  but  he  never  could  locate  them 
in  that  way.  They  would  go  to  what  seemed  their 
natural  homes  in  the  arrangement  shown  in  the  figure, 
which  had  come  to  him  from  some  unknown  source. 

The  remaining  Figs.,  25-28,  in  Plate  I.,  sufficiently 


136  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

express  themselves.  The  last  belongs  to  one  of  the 
Charterhouse  boys,  the  others  respectively  to  a  musi- 
cal critic,  to  a  clergyman,  and  to  a  gentleman  who  is, 
I  believe,  now  a  barrister. 


Description  of  Plate  II. 

Plate  II.  contains  examples  of  more  complicated 
Forms,  which  severally  require  so  much  minuteness  of 
description  that  I  am  in  despair  of  being  able  to  do 
justice  to  them  separately,  and  must  leave  most  of 
them  to  tell  their  own  story. 

Fig.  34  is  that  of  Mr.  Flinders  Petrie,  to  which  I 
have  already  referred  (p.  95). 

Fig.  37  is  by  Professor  Herbert  M'Leod,  F.R.S. 

I  will  quote  his  letter  almost  in  full,  as  it  is  a  very 

good  example  : — 

"  When  your  first  article  on  visualised  numerals  appeared  in 
Nature,  I  thought  of  writing  to  tell  you  of  my  own  case,  of  which 
I  had  never  previously  spoken  to  any  one,  and  which  I  never 
contemplated  putting  on  paper.  It  becomes  now  a  duty  to  me 
to  do  so,  for  it  is  a  fourth  case  of  the  influence  of  the  clock-face. 
[In  my  article  I  had  spoken  of  only  three  cases  known  to  me. — 
F.  G.]  The  enclosed  paper  will  give  you  a  rough  notion  of  the 
apparent  positions  of  numbers  in  my  mind.  That  it  is  due  to 
learning  the  clock  is,  I  think,  proved  by  my  being  able  to  tell  the 
clock  certainly  before  I  was  four,  and  probably  when  little  more 
than  three,  but  my  mother  cannot  tell  me  the  exact  date.  I  had 
a  habit  of  arranging  my  spoon  and  fork  on  my  plate  to  indicate 
the  positions  of  the  hands,  and  I  well  remember  being  astonished 
at  seeing  an  old  watch  of  my  grandmother's  which  had  ordinary 
numerals  in  place  of  Eoman  ones.  All  this  happened  before  I 
could  read,  and  I  have  no  recollection  of  learning  the  numbers, 


NUMBER-FORMS.  137 

unless  it  was  by  seeing  numbers  stencilled  on  the  barrels  in  my 
father's  brewery. 

"When  learning  the  numbers  from  12  to  20,  they  appeared 
to  be  vertically  above  the  12  of  the  clock,  and  you  will  see  from 
the  enclosed  sketch  that  the  most  prominent  numbers  which  I 
have  underlined  all  occur  in  the  multiplication  table.  Those 
doubly  underlined  are  the  most  prominent  [the  lithographer  has 
not  rendered  these  correctly. — F.  G,],  and  just  now  I  caught 
myself  doing  what  I  did  not  anticipate — after  doubly  underlining 
some  of  the  numbers,  I  found  that  all  the  multiples  of  1 2  except 
84  are  so  marked.  In  the  sketch  I  have  written  in  all  the  num- 
bers up  to  30  ;  the  others  are  not  added  merely  for  want  of  space  ; 
they  appear  in  their  corresponding  positions.  You  will  see  that 
21  is  curiously  placed,  probably  to  get  a  fresh  start  for  the 
next  10.  The  loops  gradually  diminish  in  size  as  the  numbers 
rise,  and  it  seems  rather  curious  that  the  numbers  from  100  to 
120  resemble  in  form  those  from  1  to  20.  Beyond  144  the 
arrangement  is  less  marked,  and  beyond  200  they  entirely  vanish, 
although  there  is  some  hazy  recollection  of  a  futile  attempt  to 
learn  the  multiplication  table  up  to  20  times  20. 

"  Neither  my  mother  nor  my  sister  is  conscious  of  any  mental 
arrangement  of  numerals.  I  have  not  found  any  idea  of  this 
kind  among  any  of  my  colleagues  to  whom  I  have  spoken  on  the 
subject,  and  several  of  them  have  ridiculed  the  notion,  and  pos- 
sibly think  me  a  lunatic  for  having  any  such  feeling.  I  was 
showing  the  scheme  to  G.,  shortly  after  your  first  article  appeared, 
on  the  piece  of  paper  I  enclose,  and  he  changed  the  diagram  to 
a  sea-serpent  [most  amusingly  and  grotesquely  drawn. — F.  G.], 
with  the  remark,  '  If  you  were  a  rich  man,  and  I  knew  I  was 
mentioned  in  your  will,  I  should  destroy  that  piece  of  paper,  in 
case  it  should  be  brought  forward  as  an  evidence  of  insanity!' 
I  mention  this  in  connection  with  a  paragraph  in  your  article." 

Fig.  40  is,  I  think,  the  most  complicated  form  I 
possess.  It  was  communicated  to  me  by  Mr.  Woodd 
Smith  as  that  of  Miss  L.  K.,  a  lady  who  was  governess 
in  a  family,  whom  he  had  closely  questioned  both  with 
inquiries  of  his  own  and  by  submitting  others  subse- 


138  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

quently  sent  by  myself.  It  is  impossible  to  convey  its 
full  meaning  briefly,  and  I  am  not  sure  that  I  under- 
stand much  of  the  principle  of  it  myself.  A  shows  part 
only  (I  have  not  room  for  more)  of  the  series  2,  3,  5,  7, 
10,  11, 13, 14,  17,  18,  19,  each  as  two  sides  of  a  square, 
— that  is,  larger  or  smaller  according  to  the  magnitude 
of  the  number ;  1  does  not  appear  anywhere.  C  simi- 
larly shows  part  of  the  series  (all  divisible  by  3)  of  6, 
9,  15,  21,  27,  30,  33,  39,  60,  63,  66,  69,  90,  93,  96. 
B  shows  the  way  in  which  most  numbers  divisible  by 
4  appear.  D  shows  the  form  of  the  numbers  17, 
18,  19,  21,  22,  23,  25,  26,  27,  29,  41,  42-49,  81-83, 
85-87,  89,  101-103,  105-107,  and  109.  E  shows  that 
of  31,  33-35,  37-39.  The  other  numbers  are  not  clear, 
viz.  50,  51,  53-55,  57-59.  Beyond  100  the  arrange- 
ment becomes  hazy,  except  that  the  hundreds  and 
thousands  go  on  again  in  complete,  consecutive,  and 
proportional  squares  indefinitely.  The  groups  of 
figures  are  not  seen  together,  but  one  or  other  starts 
up  as  the  number  is  thought  of.  The  form  has  no  back- 
ground, and  is  always  seen  in  front.  No  Arabic  or 
other  figures  are  seen  with  it.  Experiments  were  made 
as  to  the  time  required  to  get  these  images  well  in  the 
mental  view,  by  reading  to  the  lady  a  series  of  numbers 
as  fast  as  she  could  visualise  them.  The  first  series 
consisted  of  twenty  numbers  of  two  figures  each — thus, 
17,  28,  13,  52,  etc.  ;  these  were  gone  through  on  the 
first  trial  in  22  seconds,  on  the  second  in  16,  and  on 
the  third  in  26.  The  second  series  was  more  varied, 
containing  numbers  of  one,  two,  and  three  figures — 
thus,  121,  117,  345,   187,   13,  6,  25,  etc.,  and  these 


NUMBER-FORMS.  139 

were  gone  through  in  three  trials  in  25,  25,  and  22 
seconds  respectively,  forming  a  general  result  of  23 
seconds  for  twenty  numbers,  or  2^  seconds  per  number. 
A  noticeable  feature  in  this  case  is  the  strict  accordance 
of  the  scale  of  the  image  with  the  magnitude  of  the 
number,  and  the  geometric  regularity  of  the  figures. 
Some  that  I  drew,  and  sent  for  the  lady  to  see,  did 
not  at  all  satisfy  her  eye  as  to  their  correctness. 

I  should  say  that  not  a  few  mental  calculators  work 
by  bulks  rather  than  by  numerals  ;  they  arrange  con- 
crete magnitudes  symmetrical] y  in  rank  and  file  like 
battalions,  and  march  these  about.  I  have  one  case 
where  each  number  in  a  Form  seems  to  bear  its  own 
weight. 

Fig.  45  is  a  curious  instance  of  a  French  Member 
of  the  Institute,  communicated  to  me  by  M.  Antoine 
d'Abbadie  (whose  own  Number-Form  is  shown  in  Fig. 
44):— 

"  He  was  asked,  why  he  puts  4  in  so  conspicuous  a  place ; 
he  replied,  '  You  see  that  such  a  part  of  my  name  (which  he 
wishes  to  withhold)  means  4  in  the  south  of  France,  which  is  the 
cradle  of  my  family  ;  consequently  quatre  est  ma  raison  d'etre.1 " 

Subsequently,  in  1880,  M.  d'Abbadie  wrote  : — 

"I  mentioned  the  case  of  a  philosopher  whose  4,  14,  24,  etc., 
all  step  out  of  the  rank  in  his  mind's  eye.  He  had  a  haze  in  his 
mind  from  60, 1  believe  [it  was  50. — F.  G.],  up  to  80  ;  but  latterly 
80  has  sprung  out,  not  like  the  sergeants  4,  14,  24,  but  like  a 
captain,  farther  out  still,  and  five  or  six  times  as  large  as  the 
privates  1,  2,  3,  5,  6,  etc.  'Were  I  superstitious/  said  he,  'I 
should  conclude  that  my  death  would  occur  in  the  80th  year  of 


140  INQUIRIES    INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

the  century.'     The  growth  of  80  was  sudden,  and  has  remained 
constant  ever  since." 

This  is  the  only  case  known  to  me  of  a  new  stage 
in  the  development  of  a  Number-Form  being  suddenly 
attained. 


Description  of  Plate  III. 

Plate  III.  is  intended  to  exhibit  some  instances  of 
heredity.  I  have  no  less  than  twenty-two  families  in 
which  this  curious  tendency  is  hereditary,  and  there 
may  be  many  more  of  which  I  am  still  ignorant.  I 
have  found  it  to  extend  in  at  least  eight  of  these  beyond 
the  near  degrees  of  parent  and  child,  and  brother  and 
sister.  Considering  that  the  occurrence  is  so  rare  as 
to  exist  in  only  about  one  in  every  twenty-five  or  thirty 
males,  these  results  are  very  remarkable,  and  their 
trustworthiness  is  increased  by  the  fact  that  the  here- 
ditary tendency  is  on  the  whole  the  strongest  in  those 
cases  where  the  Number-Forms  are  the  most  defined  and 
elaborate.  I  give  four  instances  in  which  the  heredi- 
tary tendency  is  found,  not  only  in  having  a  Form  at 
all,  but  also  in  some  degree  in  the  shape  of  the  Form. 

Figs.  46-49  are  those  of  various  members  of  the 
Henslow  family,  where  the  brothers,  sisters,  and  some 
children  of  a  sister  have  the  peculiarity. 

Figs.  53-54  are  those  of  a  master  of  Cheltenham 
College  and  his  sister. 

Figs.  55-56  are  those  of  a  father  and  son  ;  57  and 
58  belong  to  the  same  family. 

Figs.  59-60  are  those  of  a  brother  and  sister. 


NUMBER-FORMS.  141 

The  lower  half  of  the  Plate  explains  itself.  The 
last  figure  of  all,  Fig.  65,  is  of  interest,  because  it  was 
drawn  for  an  intelligent  little  girl  of  only  11  years  old, 
after  she  had  been  closely  questioned  by  the  father, 
and  it  was  accompanied  by  elaborate  coloured  illus- 
trations of  months  and  days  of  the  week.  I  thought 
this  would  be  a  good  test  case,  so  I  let  the  matter 
drop  for  two  years,  and  then  begged  the  father  to 
question  the  child  casually,  and  to  send  me  a  fresh 
account.  I  asked  at  the  same  time  if  any  notes  had 
been  kept  of  the  previous  letter.  Nothing  could  have 
come  out  more  satisfactorily.  No  notes  had  been  kept ; 
the  subject  had  passed  out  of  mind,  but  the  imagery 
remained  the  same,  with  some  trifling  and  very  in- 
teresting metamorphoses  of  details. 


Description  of  Plate  IV. 

I  can  find  room  in  Plate  IV.  for  only  two  instances 
of  coloured  Number-Forms,  though  others  are  described 
in  Plate  III.  Fig.  64  is  by  Miss  Eose  G.  Kingsley, 
daughter  of  the  late  eminent  writer  the  Kev.  Charles 
Kingsley,  aud  herself  an  authoress.     She  says  : — 

"  Up  to  30  I  see  the  numbers  in  clear  white ;  to  40  in  gray ; 
40-50  in  flaming  orange  ;  50-60  in  green  ;  60-70  in  dark  blue  ; 
70  I  am  not  sure  about;  80  is  reddish,  I  think;  and  90  is 
yellow;  but  these  latter  divisions  are  very  indistinct  in  my 
mind's  eye." 

She  subsequently  writes : — 
"  I  now  enclose  my  diagram ;  it  is  very  roughly  done,  I  am 


142  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

afraid,  not  nearly  as  well  as  I  should  have  liked  to  have  done  it. 
My  great  fear  has  been  that  in  thinking  it  over  I  might  be  led 
to  write  down  something  more  than  what  I  actually  see,  but  I 
hope  I  have  avoided  this." 

Fig.  65  is  an  attempt  at  reproducing  the  form 
sent  by  Mr.  George  F.  Smythe  of  Ohio,  an  American 
correspondent  who  has  contributed  much  of  interest. 
He  says  : — 

"  To  me  the  numbers  from  1  to  20  lie  on  a  level  plane, 
but  from  20  they  slope  up  to  100  at  an  angle  of  about  25°. 
Beyond  100  they  are  generally  all  on  a  level,  but  if  for  any 
reason  I  have  to  think  of  the  numbers  from  100  to  200,  or  from 
200  to  300,  etc.,  then  the  numbers,  between  these  two  hun- 
dreds, are  arranged  just  as  those  from  1  to  100  are.  I  do  not, 
when  thinking  of  a  number,  picture  to  myself  the  figures  which 
represent  it,  but  I  do  think  instantly  of  the  place  which  it 
occupies  along  the  line.  Moreover,  in  the  case  of  numbers  from 
1  to  20  (and,  indistinctly,  from  20  up  to  28  or  30),  I  always 
picture  the  number — not  the  figures — as  occupying  a  right- 
angled  parallelogram  about  twice  as  long  as  it  is  broad.  These 
numbers  all  lie  down  flat  and  extend  in  a  straight  line  from  1 
to  12  over  an  unpleasant,  arid,  sandy  plain.  At  12  the  line 
turns  abruptly  to  the  right,  passes  into  a  pleasanter  region  where 
grass  grows,  and  so  continues  up  to  20.  At  20  the  line  turns  to 
the  left,  and  passes  up  the  before-described  incline  to  100.  This 
figure  will  help  you  in  understanding  my  ridiculous  notions. 
The  asterisk  (*)  marks  the  place  where  I  commonly  seem  to 
myself  to  stand  and  view  the  line.  At  times  I  take  other  posi- 
tions, but  never  any  position  to  the  left  of  the  *,  nor  to  the  right 
of  the  line  from  20  upwards.  I  do  not  associate  colours  with 
numbers,  but  there  is  a  great  difference  in  the  illumination  which 
different  numbers  receive.  If  a  traveller  should  start  at  1  and 
walk  to  100,  he  would  be  in  an  intolerable  glare  of  light  until  near 
9  or  10.  But  at  11  he  would  go  into  a  land  of  darkness  and 
would  have  to  feel  his  way.  At  12  light  breaks  in  again,  a 
pleasant  sunshine,  which  continues  up  to  19  or  20,  where  there 
is  a  sort  of  twilight.     From  here  to  40  the  illumination  is  feeble, 


NUMBER-FORMS.  143 

but  still  there  is  considerable  light.  At  40  things  light  up,  and 
until  one  reaches  56  or  57  there  is  broad  dajdight.  Indeed,  the 
tract  from  48  to  50  is  almost  as  bad  as  that  from  1  to  9.  Be- 
yond 60  there  is  a  fair  amount  of  light  up  to  about  97.  From 
this  point  to  100  it  is  rather  cloudy." 

In  a  subsequent  letter  lie  adds  : — 

"  I  enclose  a  picture  in  perspective  and  colour  of  my  '  form.' 
I  have  taken  great  pains  with  this,  but  am  far  from  satisfied 
with  it.  I  know  nothing  about  drawing,  and  consequently  am 
unable  to  put  upon  the  paper  just  what  I  see.  The  faults  which 
I  find  with  the  picture  are  these.  The  rectangles  stand  out  too 
distinctly,  as  something  lying  on  the  plane  instead  of  being,  as 
they  ought,  a  part  of  the  plane.  The  view  is  taken  of  necessity 
from  an  unnatural  stand-point,  and  some  way  or  other  the  region 
1-12  does  not  look  right.  The  landscape  is  altogether  too 
distinct  in  its  features.  I  rather  know  that  there  is  grass,  and 
that  there  are  trees  in  the  distance,  than  see  them.  But  the 
grass  within  a  few  feet  of  the  line  I  see  distinctly.  I  cannot 
make  the  hill  at  the  right  slope  down  to  the  plane  as  it  ought. 
It  is  too  steep.  I  have  had  my  poor  success  in  indicating  my 
notion  of  the  darkness  which  overhangs  the  region  of  eleven. 
In  reality  it  is  not  a  cloud  at  all,  but  a  darkness. 

"  My  sister,  a  married  lady,  thirty-eight  years  of  age,  sees 
numerals  much  as  I  do,  but  very  indistinctly.  She  cannot  draw 
a  figure  which  is  not  by  far  too  distinct." 

Most  of  those  who  associate  colours  with  numerals 
do  so  in  a  vague  way,  impossible  to  convey  with  truth 
in  a  painting.  Of  the  few  who  see  them  with  more 
objectivity,  many  are  unable  to  paint  or  are  unwilling 
to  take  the  trouble  required  to  match  the  precise 
colours  of  their  fancies.  A  slight  error  in  hue  or  tint 
always  dissatisfies  them  with  their  work. 

Before  dismissing  the  subject  of  numerals,  I  would 


144  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

call  attention  to  a  few  other  associations  connected 
with  them.  They  are  often  personified  by  children, 
and  characters  are  assigned  to  them,  it  may  be  on 
account  of  the  part  they  play  in  the  multiplication 
table,  or  owing  to  some  fanciful  association  with  their 
appearance  or  their  sound.  To  the  minds  of  some  per- 
sons the  multiplication  table  appears  dramatised,  and 
any  chance  group  of  figures  may  afford  a  plot  for  a  tale. 
I  have  collated  six  full  and  trustworthy  accounts, 
and  find  a  curious  dissimilarity  in  the  personifications 
and  preferences ;  thus  the  number  3  is  described  as 
(1)  disliked;  (2)  a  treacherous  sneak  ;  (3)  a  good  old 
friend ;  (4)  delightful  and  amusing ;  (5)  a  female 
companion  to  2 ;  (6)  a  feeble  edition  of  9.  In  one 
point  alone  do  I  find  any  approach  to  unanimity,  and 
that  is  in  the  respect  paid  to  12,  as  in  the  following 
examples: — (1)  important  and  influential;  (2)  good  and 
cautious — so  good  as  to  be  almost  noble  ;  (3)  a  more 
beautiful  number  than  10,  from  the  many  multiples 
that  make  it  up — in  other  words,  its  kindly  relations 
to  so  many  small  numbers ;  (4)  a  great  love  for 
12,  a  large-hearted  motherly  person  because  of  the 
number  of  little  ones  that  it  takes,  as  it  were,  under 
its  protection.  The  decimal  system  seemed  to  me 
treason  against  this  motherly  12. — All  this  concurs 
with  the  importance  assigned  for  other  reasons  to 
the  number  12  in  the  Number-Form. 

There  is  no  agreement  as  to  the  sex  of  numbers ; 
I  myself  had  absurdly  enough  fancied  that  of  course 
the  even  numbers  would  be  taken  to  be  of  the  male 
sex,  and  was  surprised  to  find  that  they  were  not.     I 


COLOUR   ASSOCIATIONS.  145 

mention  this  as  an  example  of  the  curious  way  in 
which  our  minds  may  be  unconsciously  prejudiced  by 
the  survival  of  some  forgotten  early  fancies.  I  cannot 
find  on  inquiring  of  philologists  any  indications  of 
different  sexes  having  been  assigned  in  any  language 
to  different  numbers. 

Mr.  Hershon  has  published  an  analysis  of  the 
Talmud,  on  the  odd  principle  of  indexing  the  various 
passages  according  to  the  number  they  may  happen  to 
contain  ;  thus  such  a  phrase  as  "  there  were  three  men 
who,"  etc.,  would  be  entered  under  the  number  3.  I 
cannot  find  any  particular  preferences  given  there  to 
especial  numbers;  even  7  occurs  less  often  than  1,  2, 
3,  4,  and  10.  Their  respective  frequency  being  47, 
54,  53,  64,  54,  51;  12  occurs  only  sixteen  times. 
Gamblers  have  not  unfrequently  the  silliest  ideas 
concerning  numbers,  their  heads  being  filled  with 
notions  about  lucky  figures  and  beautiful  combinations 
of  them.  There  is  a  very  amusing  chapter  in  Rome 
Contemporaine,  by  E.  About,  in  which  he  speaks  of 
this  in  connection  with  the  rage  for  lottery  tickets. 


Colour  Associations. 

Numerals  are  occasionally  seen  in  Arabic  or  other 
figures,  not  disposed  in  any  particular  Form,  but 
coloured.  An  instance  of  this  is  represented  in  Fig. 
69  towards  the  middle  part  of  the  column,  but  as  I 
shall  have  shortly  to  enter  at  length  into  the  colour 
associations    of   the    author,    I   will    pass    over   this 

L 


146  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

portion  of  them,  and  will  quote  in  preference  from 
the  letter  of  another  correspondent. 

Baron  von  Osten  Sacken,  of  whom  I  have  already 
spoken,  writes : — 

"  The  localisation  of  numerals,  peculiar  to  certain  persons,  is 
foreign  to  me.  In  my  mind's  eye  the  figures  appear  in  front  of 
me,  within  a  limited  space.  My  peculiarity,  however,  consists  in 
the  fact  that  the  numerals  from  1  to  9  are  differently  coloured; 
(l)black,  (2)  yellow,  (3)pale  brick  red,  (4)brown,  (5)blackish  gray, 
(6)  reddish  brown,  (7)  green,  (8)  bluish,  (9)  reddish  brown,  some- 
what like  6.  These  colours  appear  very  distinctly  when  I  think 
of  these  figures  separately ;  in  compound  figures  they  become  less 
apparent.  But  the  most  remarkable  manifestation  of  these  colours 
appears  in  my  recollections  of  chronology.  When  I  think  of  the 
events  of  a  given  century  they  invariably  appear  to  me  on  a  back- 
ground coloured  like  the  principal  figure  in  the  dates  of  that 
century;  thus  events  of  the  eighteenth  century  invariably  appear 
to  me  on  a  greenish  ground,  from  the  colour  of  the  figure  7.  This 
habit  clings  to  me  most  tenaciously,  and  the  only  hypothesis  I 
can  form  about  its  origin  is  the  following : — My  tutor,  when  I 
was  ten  to  twelve  years  old,  taught  me  chronology  by  means  of 
a  diagram  on  which  the  centuries  were  represented  by  squares, 
subdivided  in  100  smaller  squares;  the  squares  representing 
centuries  had  narrow  coloured  borders  ;  it  may  be  that  in  this  way 
the  recollection  of  certain  figures  became  associated  with  certain 
colours.  I  venture  this  explanation  without  attaching  too  much 
importance  to  it,  because  it  seems  to  me  that  if  it  was  true,  my 
direct  recollection  of  those  coloured  borders  would  have  been 
stronger  than  it  is  ;  still,  the  strong  association  of  my  chronology 
with  colour  seems  to  plead  in  favour  of  that  explanation." 

Figs.  66,  67.  These  two  are  selected  out  of  a 
large  collection  of  coloured  Forms  in  which  the 
months  of  the  year  are  visualised.  They  will  illus- 
trate the  gorgeousness  of  the  mental  imagery  of 
some    favoured   persons.      Of  these    Fig.    66   is   by 


COLOUR  ASSOCIATIONS.  147 

the  wife  of  an  able  London  physician,  and  Fig.  67 
is  by  Mrs.  Kempe  Welch,  whose  sister,  Miss  Bevington,  J* 
a  well-known  and  thoughtful  writer,  also  sees  coloured 
imagery  in  connection  with  dates.  This  Fig.  67  was^ 
one  of  my  test  cases,  repeated  after  the  lapse  of  \  - 
two  years,  and  quite  satisfactorily.  The  first  com- 
munication was  a  descriptive  account,  partly  in 
writing,  partly  by  word  of  mouth  ;  the  second,  on  my 
asking  for  it,  was  a  picture  which  agreed  perfectly 
with  the  description,  and  explained  much  that  I  had 
not  understood  at  the  time.  The  small  size  of  the 
Fig.  in  the  Plate  makes  it  impossible  to  do  justice  to 
the  picture,  which  is  elaborate  and  on  a  large  scale, 
with  a  perspective  of  similar  hills  stretching  away  to 
the  far  distance,  and  each  standing  for  a  separate  year. 
She  writes  : — 

"  It  is  rather  difficult  to  give  it  fully  without  making  it  too 
definite ;  on  each  side  there  is  a  total  blank." 

The  instantaneous  association  of  colour  with 
sound  characterises  a  small  percentage  of  adults,  and 
it  appears  to  be  rather  common,  though  in  an  ill- 
developed  degree,  among  children.  I  can  here  appeal 
not  only  to  my  own  collection  of  facts,  but  to  those  of 
others,  for  the  subject  has  latterly  excited  some 
interest  in  Germany.  The  first  widely  known  case 
was  that  of  the  brothers  Nussbaumer,  published  in 
1873  by  Professor  Bruhl  of  Vienna,  of  which  the 
English  reader  will  find  an  account  in  the  last  volume 
of  Lewis's  Problems  of  Life  and  Mind  (p.  280). 
Since  then  many  occasional  notices  of  similar  asso- 


148  INQUIRIES   INTO    HUMAN   FACULTY. 

ciations  have  appeared.  A  pamphlet  containing 
numerous  cases  was  published  in  Leipsic  in  1881  by- 
two  Swiss  investigators,  Messrs.  Bleuler  and  Lehmann.1 
One  of  the  authors  had  the  faculty  very  strongly, 
and  the  other  had  not ;  so  they  worked  conjointly 
with  advantage.  They  carefully  tabulated  the  par- 
ticulars of  sixty-two  cases.  As  my  present  object  is 
to  subordinate  details  to  the  general  impression  that 
I  wish  to  convey  of  the  peculiarities  of  different  minds, 
I  will  simply  remark — First,  that  the  persistence  of  the 
colour  association  with  sounds  is  fully  as  remarkable 
as  that  of  the  Number-Form  with  numbers.  Secondly, 
that  the  vowel  sounds  chiefly  evoke  them.  Thirdly, 
that  the  seers  are  invariably  most  minute  in  their 
description  of  the  precise  tint  and  hue  of  the  colour. 
They  are  never  satisfied,  for  instance,  with  saying 
"  blue,"  but  will  take  a  great  deal  of  trouble  to  express 
or  to  match  the  particular  blue  they  mean.  Fourthly, 
that  no  two  people  agree,  or  hardly  ever  do  so,  as  to  the 
colour  they  associate  with  the  same  sound.  Lastly, 
that  the  tendency  is  very  hereditary.  The  publica- 
tions just  mentioned  absolve  me  from  the  necessity 
of  giving  many  extracts  from  the  numerous  letters  I 
have  received,  but  I  am  particularly  anxious  to  bring 
the  brilliancy  of  these  colour  associations  more  vividly 
before  the  reader  than  is  possible  by  mere  descrip- 
tion. I  have  therefore  given  the  elaborately-coloured 
diagrams  in   Plate   IV.,   which  were  copied  by  the 

1  Zwangmiissige  Lichtempfindungen  durch  Schall  und  verwandte 
Ersclieiimngen,  von  E.  Bleuler  und  K.  Lehmann.  Leipsig,  Fues'  Verlag 
(R.  Reislaud),  1881. 


COLOUR   ASSOCIATIONS  149 

artist  directly  from  the  original  drawings,  and  which 
have  been  printed  by  the  superimposed  impressions 
of  different  colours  from  no  less  than  thirteen  different 
lithographic  stones.  They  have  been,  on  the  whole, 
very  faithfully  executed,  and  will  serve  as  samples  of 
the  most  striking  cases.  Usually  the  sense  of  colour 
is  much  too  vague  to  enable  the  seer  to  reproduce  the 
various  tints  so  definitely  as  those  in  this  Plate.  But 
this  is  by  no  means  universally  the  case. 

Fig.  68  is  an  excellent  example  of  the  occasional 
association  of  colours  with  letters.  It  is  by  Miss 
Stones,  the  head  teacher  in  a  high  school  for  girls, 
who,  as  I  have  already  mentioned,  obtained  useful 
information  for  me,  and  has  contributed  several 
suggestive  remarks  of  her  own.     She  says  : — 

"  The  vowels  of  the  English  language  always  appear  to  me, 
when  I  think  of  them,  as  possessing  certain  colours,  of  which  I 
enclose  a  diagram.  Consonants,  when  thought  of  by  themselves, 
are  of  a  purplish  black ;  but  when  I  think  of  a  whole  word,  the 
colour  of  the  consonants  tends  towards  the  colour  of  the  vowels. 
For  example,  in  the  word  '  Tuesday,'  when  I  think  of  each  letter 
separately,  the  consonants  are  purplish-black,  u  is  a  light  dove 
colour,  e  is  a  pale  emerald  green,  and  a  is  yellow ;  but  when  I 
think  of  the  whole  word  together,  the  first  part  is  a  light  gray- 
green,  and  the  latter  part  yellow.  Each  word  is  a  distinct 
whole.  I  have  always  associated  the  same  colours  with  the  same 
letters,  and  no  effort  will  change  the  colour  of  one  letter,  trans- 
ferring it  to  another.  Thus  the  word  "  red  "  assumes  a  light- 
green  tint,  while  the  word  '  yellow '  is  light-green  at  the  begin- 
ning and  red  at  the  end.  Occasionally,  when  uncertain  how  a 
word  should  be  spelt,  I  have  considered  what  colour  it  ought  to 
be,  and  have  decided  in  that  way.  I  believe  this  has  often  been 
a  great  help  to  me  in  spelling,  both  in  English  and  foreign  Ian- 


150  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN  FACULTY. 

guages.  The  colour  of  the  letters  is  never  smeared  or  blurred 
in  any  way.  I  cannot  recall  to  mind  anything  that  should 
have  first  caused  me  to  associate  colours  with  letters,  nor  can  my 
mother  remember  any  alphabet  or  reading-book  coloured  in  the 
way  I  have  described,  which  I  might  have  used  as  a  child.  I  do 
not  associate  any  idea  of  colour  with  musical  notes  at  all,  nor 
with  any  of  the  other  senses." 

She  adds : — 

"Perhaps  you  may  be  interested  in  the  following  account 
from  my  sister  of  her  visual  peculiarities :  '  When  I  think  of 
Wednesday  I  see  a  kind  of  oval  flat  wash  of  yellow  emerald 
green  ;  for  Tuesday,  a  gray  sky  colour ;  for  Thursday,  a  brown- 
red  irregular  polygon ;  and  a  dull  yellow  smudge  for  Friday.' " 

The  latter  quotation  is  a  sample  of  many  that  I 
have ;  I  give  it  merely  as  another  instance  of  here- 
ditary tendency. 

I  will  insert  just  one  description  of  other  coloured 
letters  than  those  represented  in  the  Plate.  It  is 
from  Mrs.  H.,  the  married  sister  of  a  well-known 
man  of  science,  who  writes  : — 

"  I  do  not  know  how  it  is  with  others,  but  to  me  the  colours 
of  vowels  are  so  strongly  marked  that  I  hardly  understand  their 
appearing  of  a  different  colour,  or,  what  is  nearly  as  bad,  colour- 
less to  any  one.  To  me  they  are  and  always  have  been,  as  long 
as  I  have  known  them,  of  the  following  tints  : — 

"  A,  pure  white,  and  like  china  in  texture. 
E,  red,  not  transparent ;  vermilion,  with  china-white  would 

represent  it. 
I,  light  bright  yellow ;  gamboge. 
0,  black,  but  transparent ;  the  colour  of  deep  water  seen 

through  thick  clear  ice. 
U,  purple. 
Y,  a  dingier  colour  than  I. 

"  The  shorter  sounds  of  the  vowels  are  less  vivid  and  pure 


COLOUR   ASSOCIATIONS.  151 

in  colour.  Consonants  are  almost  or  quite  colourless  to  me, 
though  there  is  some  blackness  about  M. 

"  Some  association  with  U  in  the  words  blue  and  purple  may 
account  for  that  colour,  and  possibly  the  E  in  red  may  have  to 
do  with  that  also ;  but  I  feel  as  if  they  were  independent  of 
suggestions  of  the  kind. 

"  My  first  impulse  is  to  say  that  the  association  lies  solely  in 
the  sound  of  the  vowels,  in  which  connection  I  certainly  feel  it 
the  most  strongly ;  but  then  the  thought  of  the  distinct  redness 
of  such  a  [printed  or  written]  word  as  '  great,1  shows  me  that 
the  relation  must  be  visual  as  well  as  aural.  The  meaning  of 
words  is  so  unavoidably  associated  with  the  sight  of  them,  that 
I  think  this  association  rather  overrides  the  primitive  impression 
of  the  colour  of  the  vowels,  and  the  word  '  violet '  reminds  me 
of  its  proper  colour  until  I  look  at  the  word  as  a  mere  collection 
of  letters. 

"  Of  my  two  daughters,  one  sees  the  colours  quite  differently 
from  this  (A,  blue ;  E,  white ;  I,  black ;  0,  whity- brownish ; 
U,  opaque  brown.)  The  other  is  only  heterodox  on  the  A  and 
0  ;  A  being  with  her  black,  and  0  white.  My  sister  and  I 
never  agreed  about  these  colours,  and  I  doubt  whether  my  two 
brothers  feel  the  chromatic  force  of  the  vowels  at  all." 

I  give  this  instance  partly  on  account  of  the 
hereditary  interest.  I  could  add  cases  from  at  least 
three  different  families  in  which  the  heredity  is  quite 
as  strongly  marked. 

Fig.  69  fills  the  whole  of  the  middle  column  of 
Plate  IV.,  and  contains  specimens  from  a  large  series 
of  coloured  illustrations,  accompanied  by  many  pages 
of  explanation  from  a  correspondent,  Dr.  James  Key 
of  Montagu,  Cape  Colony.  The  pictures  will  tell 
their  own  tale  sufficiently  well.  I  need  only  string 
together  a  few  brief  extracts  from  his  letters,  as 
follows  : — 


152  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

"  I  confess  my  inability  to  understand  visualised  numerals  ; 
it  is  otherwise,  however,  with  regard  to  colour  associations  with 
letters.  Ever  since  childhood  these  have  been  distinct  and 
unchanging  in  my  consciousness ;  sometimes,  although  very 
seldom,  I  have  mentioned  them,  to  the  amazement  of  my 
teachers  and  the  scorn  of  my  comrades.  A  is  brown.  I  say  it 
most  dogmatically,  and  nothing  will  ever  have  the  effect,  I  am 
convinced,  of  making  it  appear  otherwise  !  I  can  imagine  no 
explanation  of  this  association.  [He  goes  into  much  detail  as 
to  conceivable  reasons  connected  with  his  childish  life  to  show 
that  none  of  these  would  do.]  Shades  of  brown  accompany  to 
my  mind  the  various  degrees  of  openness  in  pronouncing  A. 
I  have  never  been  destitute  in  all  my  conscious  existence  of  a 
conviction  that  E  is  a  clear,  cold,  light-gray  blue.  I  remember 
daubing  in  colours,  when  quite  a  little  child,  the  picture  of  a 
jockey,  whose  shirt  received  a  large  share  of  E,  as  I  said  to  my- 
self while  daubing  it  with  green.  [He  thinks  that  the  letter  I 
may  possibly  be  associated  with  black  because  it  contains  no 
open  space,  and  0  with  white  because  it  does.]  The  colour  of 
R  has  been  invariably  of  a  copper  colour,  in  which  a  swarthy 
blackness  seems  to  intervene,  visually  corresponding  to  the  trilled 
pronunciation  of  R.  This  same  appearance  exists  also  in  J,  X, 
and  Z." 

The  upper  row  of  Fig.  69  shows  the  various 
shades  of  brown,  associated  with  different  pronuncia- 
tions of  the  letter  A,  as  in  "  fame,"  "  can,"  "  charm," 
and  "  all "  respectively.  The  second,  third,  and  fourth 
rows  similarly  refer  to  the  various  pronunciations  of 
the  other  vowels.  Then  follow  the  letters  of  the 
alphabet,  grouped  according  to  the  character  of  the 
appearance  they  suggest.  After  these  come  the 
numerals.  Then  I  give  three  lines  of  words  such  as 
they  appear  to  him.  The  first  is  my  own  name,  the 
second  is  "London,"  and  the  third  is  "Visualisation." 
Proceeding   conversely,  Dr.  Key  collected  scraps  of 


COLOUR  ASSOCIATIONS.  153 

various  patterns  of  wall  paper,  and  sent  them  together 
with  the  word  that  the  colour  of  the  several  patterns 
suggested  to  him.  Specimens  of  these  are  shown 
in  the  three  bottom  lines  of  the  fig.  I  have  gone 
through  the  whole  of  them  with  care,  together  with 
his  descriptions  and  reasons,  and  can  quite  under- 
stand his  meaning,  and  how  exceedingly  complex 
and  refined  these  associations  are.  The  patterns  are 
to  him  like  words  in  poetry,  which  call  up  associations 
that  any  substituted  word  of  a  like  dictionary  mean- 
ing would  fail  to  do.  It  would  not,  for  example,  be 
possible  to  print  words  by  the  use  of  counters  coloured 
like  those  in  Fig.  69,  because  the  tint  of  each  influ- 
ences that  of  its  neighbours.  It  must  be  understood 
that  my  remarks,  though  based  on  Dr.  Key's  diagrams 
and  statements  as  on  a  text,  do  not  depend,  by  any 
means,  wholly  upon  them,  but  on  numerous  other 
letters  from  various  quarters  to  the  same  effect.  At 
the  same  time  I  should  say  that  Dr.  Key's  elaborate 
drawings  and  ample  explanations,  to  which  I  am 
totally  unable  to  do  justice  in  a  moderate  space,  are 
the  most  full  and  striking  of  any  I  have  received. 
His  illustrations  are  on  a  large  scale,  and  are  ingeni- 
ously arranged  so  as  to  express  his  meaning. 

Persons  who  have  colour  associations  are  unspar- 
ingly critical.  To  ordinary  individuals  one  of  these 
accounts  seems  just  as  wild  and  lunatic  as  another, 
but  when  the  account  of  one  seer  is  submitted  to 
another  seer,  who  is  sure  to  see  the  colours  in  a 
different  way,  the  latter  is  scandalised  and  almost 
angry  at  the  heresy  of  the  former.     I  submitted  this 


154  INQUIRIES    INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

very  account  of  Dr.  Key  to  a  lady,  the  wife  of  an  ex- 
governor  of  one  of  the  most  important  British  pos- 
sessions, who  has  vivid  colour  associations  of  her  own, 
and  who,  I  had  some  reason  to  think,  might  have 
personal  acquaintance  with  the  locality  where  Dr. 
Key  lives.  She  could  not  comprehend  his  account 
at  all,  his  colours  were  so  entirely  different  to  those 
that  she  herself  saw. 

I  have  now  completed  as  much  as  I  propose  to 
say  about  the  quaint  phenomena  of  Visualised  Forms 
of  numbers  and  of  dates,  and  of  coloured  associations 
with  letters.  I  shall  not  extend  my  remarks  to  such 
subjects  as  a  musician  hearing  mental  music,  of  which 
I  have  many  cases,  nor  to  fancies  concerning  the 
other  senses,  as  none  of  these  are  so  noteworthy.  I 
am  conscious  that  the  reader  may  desire  even  more 
assurance  of  the  trustworthiness  of  the  accounts  I 
have  given  than  the  space  now  at  my  disposal  admits, 
or  than  I  could  otherwise  afford  without  wearisome 
iteration  of  the  same  tale,  by  multiplying  extracts 
from  my  large  store  of  material.  I  feel,  too,  that  it 
may  seem  ungracious  to  many  obliging  correspondents 
not  to  have  made  more  evident  use  of  what  they  have 
sent  than  my  few  and  brief  notices  permit.  Still  their 
end  and  mine  will  have  been  gained,  if  these  remarks 
and  illustrations  succeed  in  leaving  a  just  impression 
of  the  vast  variety  of  mental  constitution  that  exists 
in  the  world,  and  how  impossible  it  is  for  one  man  to 
lay  his  mind  strictly  alongside  that  of  another,  except 
in  the  rare  instances  of  close  hereditary  resemblance. 


VISIONARIES.  155 


Visionaries. 

In  the  course  of  my  inquiries  into  visual  memory, 
I  was  greatly  struck  by  the  frequency  of  the  replies 
in  which  my  informants  described  themselves  as 
subject  to  "  visions."  Those  of  whom  I  speak  were 
sane  and  healthy,  but  were  subject  notwithstanding 
to  visual  presentations,  for  which  they  could  not 
account,  and  which  in  a  few  cases  reached  the  level 
of  hallucinations.  This  unexpected  prevalence  of  a 
visionary  tendency  among  persons  who  form  a  part 
of  ordinary  society  seems  to  me  suggestive  and  well 
worthy  of  being  put  on  record.  The  images  described 
by  different  persons  varied  greatly  in  distinctness, 
some  were  so  faint  and  evanescent  as  to  appear  un- 
worthy of  serious  notice ;  others  left  a  deep  impres- 
sion, and  others  again  were  so  vivid  as  actually  to 
deceive  the  judgment.  All  of  these  belong  to  the 
same  category,  and  it  is  the  assurance  of  their  com- 
mon origin  that  affords  justification  for  directing 
scientific  attention  to  what  many  may  be  inclined 
to  contemptuously  disregard  as  the  silly  vagaries  of 
vacant  minds. 

The  lowest  order  of  phenomena  that  admit  of 
being  classed  as  visions  are  the  "  Number-Forms  "  to 
which  I  have  just  drawn  attention.  They  are  in 
each  case  absolutely  unchangeable,  except  through 
a  gradual  development  in  complexity.  Their  diver- 
sity is  endless,  and  the  Number-Forms  of  different 
persons   are  mutually  unintelligible.     These   strange 


156  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

"  visions,"  for  such  they  must  be  called,  are  extremely 
vivid  in  some  cases,  but  are  almost  incredible  to  the 
vast  majority  of  mankind,  who  would  set  them  down 
as  fantastic  nonsense ;  nevertheless,  they  are  familiar 
parts  of  the  mental  furniture  of  the  rest,  in  whose 
imaginations  they  have  been  unconsciously  formed, 
and  where  they  remain  unmodified  and  unmodifi- 
able  by  teaching.  I  have  received  many  touching 
accounts  of  their  childish  experiences  from  persons 
who  see  the  Number-Forms,  and  other  curious  visions 
of  which  I  have  spoken  or  shall  speak.  As  is  the 
case  with  the  colour-blind,  so  with  these  seers.  They 
imagined  at  first  that  everybody  else  had  the  same 
way  of  regarding  things  as  themselves.  Then  they 
betrayed  their  peculiarities  by  some  chance  remark 
that  called  forth  a  stare  of  surprise,  followed  by 
ridicule  and  a  sharp  scolding  for  their  silliness,  so 
that  the  poor  little  things  shrank  back  into  them- 
selves, and  never  ventured  again  to  allude  to  their 
inner  world.  I  will  quote  just  one  of  many  similar 
letters  as  a  sample.  I  received  it,  together  with 
much  interesting  information,  immediately  after  a 
lecture  I  gave  to  the  British  Association  at  Swansea, 
in  which  I  had  occasion  to  speak  of  the  Number- 
Forms.     The  writer  says  : — 

"  I  had  no  idea  for  many  years  that  every  one  did  not 
imagine  numbers  in  the  same  positions  as  those  in  which  they 
appear  to  me.  One  unfortunate  day  I  spoke  of  it,  and  was 
sharply  rebuked  for  my  absurdity.  Being  a  very  sensitive  child 
I  felt  this  acutely,  but  nothing  ever  shook  my  belief  that,  absurd 
or  not,  I  always  saw  numbers  in  this  particular  way.  I  began 
to    be    ashamed    of   what  I  considered   a   peculiarity,  and   to 


VISIONARIES.  157 

imagine  myself,  from  this  and  various  other  mental  beliefs  and 
states,  as  somewhat  isolated  and  peculiar.  At  your  lecture  the 
other  night,  though  I  am  now  over  twenty-nine,  the  memory  of 
my  childish  misery  at  the  dread  of  being  peculiar  came  over  me 
so  strongly  that  I  felt  I  must  thank  you  for  proving  that,  in 
this  particular  at  any  rate,  my  case  is  most  common." 

The  next  sort  of  vision  that  flashes  unaccount- 
ably into  existence  is  the  instant  association  in  some 
persons  of  colour  with  sound,  which  was  spoken  of  in 
the  last  chapter,  and  on  which  I  need  not  say  more 
now. 

A  third  curious  and  abiding  fantasy  of  certain 
persons  is  invariably  to  connect  visualised  pictures 
with  words,  the  same  picture  to  the  same  word. 
These  are  perceived  by  many  in  a  vague,  fleeting, 
and  variable  way,  but  to  a  few  they  appear  strangely 
vivid  and  permanent.  I  have  collected  many  cases 
of  this  peculiarity,  and  am  much  indebted  to  the 
authoress,  Mrs.  Haweis,  who  sees  these  pictures,  for 
her  kindness  in  sketching  some  of  them  for  me,  and 
for  permitting  me  to  use  her  name  in  guarantee  of 
their  genuineness.     She  says  : — 

"  Printed  words  have  always  had  faces  to  me ;  they  had 
definite  expressions,  and  certain  faces  made  me  think  of  certain 
words.  The  words  had  no  connection  with  these  except  some- 
times by  accident.  The  instances  I  give  are  few  and  ridiculous. 
When  I  think  of  the  word  Beast,  it  has  a  face  something  like  a 
gurgoyle.  The  word  Green  has  also  a  gurgoyle  face,  with  the 
addition  of  big  teeth.  The  word  Blue  blinks  and  looks  silly, 
and  turns  to  the  right.  The  word  Attention  has  the  eyes 
greatly  turned  to  the  left.  It  is  difficult  to  draw  them  properly 
because,  like  Alice's  '  Cheshire  cat,'  which  at  times  became  a 
grin  without  a  cat,  these  faces  have  expression  without  features. 


158  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

The  expression  of  course  "  [note  the  naive  phrase  "  of  course." — 
F.  G.]  "depends  greatly  on  those  of  the  letters,  which  have 
likewise  their  faces  and  figures.  All  the  little  a's  turn  their 
eyes  to  the  left,  this  determines  the  eyes  of  Attention.  Ant, 
however,  looks  a  little  down.  Of  course  these  faces  are  endless 
as  words  are,  and  it  makes  my  head  ache  to  retain  them  long 
enough  to  draw." 

Some  of  the  figures  are  very  quaint.  Thus  the 
interrogation  "  what  ? "  always  excites  the  idea  of  a 
fat  man  cracking  a  long  whip.  They  are  not  the 
capricious  creations  of  the  fancy  of  the  moment,  but 
are  the  regular  concomitants  of  the  words,  and  have 
been  so  as  far  back  as  the  memory  is  able  to  recall. 

When  in  perfect  darkness,  if  the  field  of  view  be 
carefully  watched,  many  persons  will  find  a  perpetual 
series  of  changes  to  be  going  on  automatically  and 
wastefully  in  it.  I  have  much  evidence  of  this.  I 
will  give  my  own  experience  the  first,  which  is  strik- 
ing to  me,  because  I  am  very  unimpressionable  in 
these  matters.  I  visualise  with  effort;  I  am  peculiarly 
inapt  to  see  "  after-images,"  "  phosphenes,"  "  light- 
dust,"  and  other  phenomena  due  to  weak  sight  or 
sensitiveness ;  and,  again,  before  I  thought  of  care- 
fully trying,  I  should  have  emphatically  declared 
that  my  field  of  view  in  the  dark  was  essentially  of  a 
uniform  black,  subject  to  an  occasional  light-purple 
cloudiness  and  other  small  variations.  Now,  how- 
ever, after  habituating  myself  to  examine  it  with  the 
same  sort  of  strain  that  one  tries  to  decipher  a  sign- 
post in  the  dark,  I  have  found  out  that  this  is  by  no 
means  the  case,  but  that  a  kaleidoscopic  change  of 
patterns  and  forms  is  continually  going  on,  but  they 


VISIONARIES.  159 

are  too  fugitive  and  elaborate  for  me  to  draw  with  • ' 
any  approach  to  truth.  I  am  astonished  at  their  /K 
variety,  and  cannot  guess  in  the  remotest  degree  the  I 
cause  of  them.  They  disappear  out  of  sight  and 
memory  the  instant  I  begin  to  think  about  anything, 
and  it  is  curious  to  me  that  they  should  often  be  so 
certainly  present  and  yet  be  habitually  overlooked. 
If  they  were  more  vivid,  the  case  would  be  very 
different,  and  it  is  most  easily  conceivable  that  some 
very  slight  physiological  change,  short  of  a  really 
morbid  character,  would  enhance  their  vividness.  My 
own  deficiencies,  however,  are  well  supplied  by  other 
drawings  in  my  possession.  These  are  by  the  Eev. 
George  Henslow,  whose  visions  are  far  more  vivid 
than  mine.  His  experiences  are  not  unlike  those  of 
Goethe,  who  said,  in  an  often-quoted  passage,  that 
whenever  he  bent  his  head  and  closed  his  eyes  and 
thought  of  a  rose,  a  sort  of  rosette  made  its  appear- 
ance, which  would  not  keep  its  shape  steady  for 
a  moment,  but  unfolded  from  within,  throwing  out 
a  succession  of  petals,  mostly  red  but  sometimes 
green,  and  that  it  continued  to  do  so  without  change 
in  brightness  and  without  causing  him  any  fatigue  so 
long  as  he  cared  to  watch  it.  Mr.  Henslow,  when  he 
shuts  his  eyes  and  waits,  is  sure  in  a  short  time  to  see 
before  him  the  clear  image  of  some  object  or  other, 
but  usually  not  quite  natural  in  its  shape.  It  then 
begins  to  change  from  one  form  to  another,  in  his 
case  also  for  as  long  a  time  as  he  cares  to  watch  it. 
Mr.  Henslow  has  zealously  made  repeated  experi- 
ments on  himself,  and  has  drawn  what  he  sees.     He 


160  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

has  also  tried  how  far  he  is  able  to  mould  the  visions 
according  to  his  will.  In  one  case,  after  much  effort, 
he  contrived  to  bring  the  imagery  back  to  its  starting- 
point,  and  thereby  to  form  what  he  terms  a  "  visual 
cycle."  The  following  account  is  extracted  and  con- 
densed from  his  very  interesting  letter,  and  will 
explain  the  illustrations  copied  from  his  drawings 
that  are  given  in  Plate  IV. 

Fig.  70.  The  first  image  that  spontaneously  pre- 
sented itself  was  a  cross-bow  (1) ;  this  was  immedi- 
ately provided  with  an  arrow  (2),  remarkable  for  its 
pronounced  barb  and  superabundance  of  feathering. 
Some  person,  but  too  indistinct  to  recognise  much  more 
of  him  than  the  hands,  appeared  to  shoot  the  arrow 
from  the  bow.  The  single  arrow  was  then  accompanied 
by  a  flight  of  arrows  from  right  to  left,  which  com- 
pletely occupied  the  field  of  vision.  These  changed 
into  falling  stars,  then  into  flakes  of  a  heavy  snow- 
storm ;  the  ground  gradually  appeared  as  a  sheet  of 
snow  where  previously  there  had  been  vacant  space. 
Then  a  well-known  rectory,  fish-ponds,  walls,  etc.,  all 
covered  with  snow,  came  into  view  most  vividly  and 
clearly  defined.  This  somehow  suggested  another 
view,  impressed  on  his  mind  in  childhood,  of  a  spring 
morning,  brilliant  sun,  and  a  bed  of  red  tulips :  the 
tulips  gradually  vanished  except  one,  which  appeared 
now  to  be  isolated  and  to  stand  in  the  usual  point  of 
sight.  It  was  a  single  tulip,  but  became  double. 
The  petals  then  fell  off  rapidly  in  a  continuous  series 
until  there  was  nothing  left  but  the  pistil  (3),  but  (as 
is  almost  invariably  the  case  with  his  objects)  that 


VISIONARIES.  161 

part  was  greatly  exaggerated.  The  stigmas  then 
changed  into  three  branching  brown  horns  (4)  ;  then 
into  a  knob  (5),  while  the  stalk  changed  into  a  stick. 
A  slight  bend  in  it  seems  to  have  suggested  a  centre- 
bit  (6)  ;  this  passed  into  a  sort  of  pin  passing  through 
a  metal  plate  (7),  this  again  into  a  lock  (8),  and 
afterwards  into  a  nondescript  shape  (9),  distantly 
suggestive  of  the  original  cross-bow.  Here  Mr. 
Henslow  endeavoured  to  force  his  will  upon  the 
visions,  and  to  reproduce  the  cross-bow,  but  the  first 
attempt  was  an  utter  failure.  The  figure  changed 
into  a  leather  strap  with  loops  (10),  but  while  he 
still  endeavoured  to  change  it  into  a  bow  the  strap 
broke,  the  two  ends  were  separated,  but  it  happened 
that  an  imaginary  string  connected  them  (11).  This 
was  the  first  concession  of  his  automatic  chain  of 
thoughts  to  his  will.  By  a  continued  effort  the  bow 
came  (12),  and  then  no  difficulty  was  felt  in  convert- 
ing it  into  the  cross-bow,  and  thus  returning  to  the 
starting-point. 

Fig.  71.  Mr.  Henslow  writes  : — 

"  Though  I  can  usually  summon  up  any  object  thought  of,  it 
not  only  is  somewhat  different  from  the  real  thing,  but  it  rapidly 
changes.  The  changes  are  in  many  cases  clearly  due  to  a  sug- 
gestiveness  in  the  article  of  something  else,  but  not  always  so, 
as  in  some  cases  hereafter  described.  It  is  not  at  all  neces- 
sary to  think  of  any  particular  object  at  first,  as  something  is  sure 
to  come  spontaneously  within  a  minute  or  two.  Some  object 
having  once  appeared,  the  automatism  of  the  brain  will  rapidly 
induce  the  series  of  changes.  The  images  are  sometimes  very 
numerous,  and  very  rapid  in  succession :  very  frequently  of  great 
beauty  and  highly  brilliant.  Cut  glass  (far  more  elaborate  than 
I  am  conscious  of  ever  having  seen),  highly  chased  gold  and  silver 

M 


162  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

filigree  ornaments  ;  gold  and  silver  flower-stands,  etc. ;  elaborate 
coloured  patterns  of  carpets  in  brilliant  tints  are  not  uncommon. 

"  Another  peculiarity  resides  in  the  extreme  restlessness  of 
my  visual  objects.  It  is  often  very  difficult  to  keep  them  still, 
as  well  as  from  changing  in  character.  They  will  rapidly  oscillate 
or  else  rotate  to  a  most  perplexing  degree,  and  when  the  charac- 
ters change  at  the  same  time  a  critical  examination  is  almost 
impossible.  When  the  process  is  in  full  activity,  I  feel  as  if  I 
were  a  mere  spectator  at  a  diorama  of  a  very  eccentric  kind,  and 
was  in  no  way  concerned  with  the  getting  up  of  the  performance. 

"  When  a  succession  of  images  has  been  passing,  I  sometimes 
determine  to  introduce  an  object,  say  a  watch.  Very  often  it  is 
next  to  impossible  to  succeed.  There  is  an  evident  struggle. 
The  watch,  pure  and  simple,  will  not  come  ;  but  some  hybrid 
structure  appears — something  round,  perhaps — but  it  lapses  into 
a  warming-pan  or  other  unexpected  object. 

"  This  practice  has  brought  to  my  mind  very  clearly  the  dis- 
tinction between  at  least  one  form  of  automatism  of  the  brain 
and  volition  ;  but  the  strength  of  the  former  is  enormous,  for 
the  visual  objects,  when  in  full  career  of  the  change,  are  impera- 
tive in  their  refusal  to  be  interfered  with, 

"I  will  now  describe  the  cases  illustrated.  Fig.  71.  I 
thought  of  a  gun.  The  stock  came  into  view,  the  metal  plate  on 
the  end  very  distinct  towards  the  left  (1).  The  wood  was 
elaborately  carved.  I  cannot  recall  the  pattern.  As  I  scrutin- 
ised it,  the  stock  oscillated  up  and  down,  and  crumpled  up.  The 
metallic  plate  sank  inwards  :  and  the  stock  contracted  so  that  it 
looked  not  unlike  a  tuning-fork  (2).  I  gave  up  the  stock  and 
proceeded  cautiously  to  examine  the  lock.  I  got  it  well  into  view, 
but  no  more  of  the  gun.  It  turned  out  to  be  an  old-fashioned 
flintlock.  It  immediately  began  to  nod  backwards  and  forwards 
in  a  manner  suggestive  of  the  beak  of  a  bird  pecking.  Conse- 
quently it  forthwith  became  converted  into  the  head  of  a  bird  with 
a  long  curved  beak,  the  knob  on  the  lock  (3)  becoming  the  head 
of  the  bird.  I  then  looked  to  the  right  expecting  to  find  the 
barrel,  but  the  snout  of  a  saw-fish  with  the  tip  distinctly  broken 
off  appeared  instead.  I  had  not  thought  either  of  a  flint-\oc\s. 
or  of  a  sawfish  :   both  came  spontaneously. 

"Fig.  72.    I   have   several   times  thought  of  a  rosebud,  as 


VISIONARIES. 


163 


Goethe  is  said  to  have  been  able  to  see  one  at  will,  and  to  observe 
it  expand.  The  following  are  some  of  the  results : — The  bud 
appeared  unexpectedly  a  moss  rosebud.  Its  only  abnormal  ap- 
pearance were  the  inordinately  elongated  sepals  (1).  I  tried  to 
force  it  to  expand.  It  enlarged  but  only  partially  opened  (2), 
Avhen  all  of  a  sudden  it  burst  open  and  the  petals  became  refiexed 

"Fig.  73.  The  spontaneous  appearance  of  a  poppy  capsule  (1) 
dehiscing  as  usual  by  'pores,'  but  with  inordinately  long  and  arch- 
ing valves  over  the  pores.  These  valves  were  eminently  suggestive 
of  hooded  flowers.  Hence  they  changed  to  a  whorl  of  salvias  (2). 
Each  blossom  now  gyrated  rapidly  in  a  vertical  plane.  Concen- 
trating observation  on  one  rotating  flower,  it  became  a  '  rotating 
haze,'  as  the  rapid  motion  rendered  the  flower  totally  indistinct. 
The  'haze'  now  shaped  itself  into  a  circle  of  moss  with  a  deep 
funnel-like  cavity.  This  was  suggestive  of  a  bird's  nest.  It  be- 
came lined  with  hair,  but  the  nest  was  a  deep,  pointed  cavity.  A 
nest  was  suggestive  of  eggs.  Hence  a  series  appeared  (4) ;  the 
two  rows  meeting  in  one  at  the  apex  appears  to  have  arisen  from 
the  perspective  view  of  the  nest.  The  eggs  all  disappeared  but 
one  (5),  which  increased  in  size  ;  the  bright  point  of  light  now 
shone  with  great  intensity  like  a  star ;  then  it  gradually  grew 
dimmer  and  dimmer  till  it  disappeared  into  the  usual  hazy 
obscurity  into  which  all  [my]  visual  objects  ultimately  vanish." 


:• 


I  have  a  sufficient  variety  of  cases  to  prove  the 
continuity  between  all  the  forms  of  visualisation, 
beginning  with  an  almost  total  absence  of  it,  and 
ending  with  a  complete  hallucination.  The  continuity 
is,  however,  not  simply  that  of  varying  degrees  of 
intensity,  but  of  variations  in  the  character  of  the 
process  itself,  so  that  it  is  by  no  means  uncommon  to 
find  two  very  different  forms  of  it  concurrent  in  the 
same  person.     There  are  some  who  visualise  well,  and 

1  The  details  and  illustrations  of  four  other  experiments  with  the 
image  of  a  rosebud  have  been  given  me.      They  all  vary  in  detail. 


164  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

who  also  are  seers  of  visions,  who  declare  that  the 
vision  is  not  a  vivid  visualisation,  but  altogether  a 
different  phenomenon.  In  short,  if  we  please  to  call 
all  sensations  due  to  external  impressions  "direct" 
and  all  others  "  induced"  then  there  are  many  chan- 
nels through  which  the  "  induction  "  of  the  latter  may 
take  place,  and  the  channel  of  ordinary  visualisation 
in  the  persons  just  mentioned  is  different  from  that 
through  which  their  visions  arise. 

The  following  is  a  good  instance  of  this  condition. 
A  friend  writes  : — 

"  These  visions  often  appear  with  startling  vividness,  and  so 
far  from  depending  on  any  voluntary  effort  of  the  mind,  they 
remain  when  I  often  wish  them  very  much  to  depart,  and  no 
effort  of  the  imagination  can  call  them  up.  1  lately  saw  a  framed 
portrait  of  a  face  which  seemed  more  lovely  than  any  painting  I 
have  ever  seen,  and  again  I  often  see  fine  landscapes  which  bear 
no  resemblance  to  any  scenery  I  have  ever  looked  upon.  I  find 
it  difficult  to  define  the  difference  between  a  waking  vision  and  a 
mental  image,  although  the  difference  is  very  apparent  to  myself. 
I  think  I  can  do  it  best  in  this  way.  If  you  go  into  a  theatre 
and  look  at  a  scene — say  of  a  forest  by  moonlight — at  the  back 
part  of  the  stage  you  see  every  object  distinctly  and  sufficiently 
illuminated  (being  thus  unlike  a  mere  act  of  memory),  but  it  is 
nevertheless  vague  and  shadowy,  and  you  might  have  difficulty 
in  telling  afterwards  all  the  objects  you  have  seen.  This  resem- 
bles a  mental  image  in  point  of  clearness.  The  waking  vision  is 
like  what  one  sees  in  the  open  street  in  broad  daylight,  when 
every  object  is  distinctly  impressed  on  the  memory.  The  two 
kinds  of  imagery  differ  also  as  regards  voluntariness,  the  image 
being  entirely  subservient  to  the  will,  the  visions  entirely  inde- 
pendent of  it.  They  differ  also  in  point  of  suddenness,  the 
images  being  formed  comparatively  slowly  as  memory  recalls  each 
detail,  and  fading  slowly  as  the  mental  effort  to  retain  them  is 
relaxed,  the  visions  appearing  and  vanishing  in  an  instant.  The 
waking  visions  seem  quite  close,  filling  as  it  were  the  whole  head, 


VISIONARIES.  165 

while  the  mental  image  seems  farther  away  in  some  far-off  recess 
of  the  mind." 

The  number  of  sane  persons  who  see  visions  no 
less  distinctly  than  this  correspondent  is  much 
greater  than  I  had  any  idea  of  when  I  began  this 
inquiry.  I  have  received  an  interesting  sketch  of 
one,  prefaced  by  a  description  of  it  by  Mrs.  Haweis. 
She  says : — 

"All  my  life  long  I  have  had  one  very  constantly-recurring 
vision,  a  sight  which  came  whenever  it  was  dark  or  darkish,  in 
bed  or  otherwise.  It  is  a  flight  of  pink  roses  floating  in  a  mass 
from  left  to  right,  and  this  cloud  or  mass  of  roses  is  presently 
effaced  by  a  flight  of  '  sparks '  or  gold  speckles  across  them. 
The  sparks  totter  or  vibrate  from  left  to  right,  but  they  fly  dis- 
tinctly upwards  ;  they  are  like  tiny  blocks,  half  gold,  half  black, 
rather  symmetrically  placed  behind  each  other,  and  they  are 
always  in  a  hurry  to  efface  the  roses ;  sometimes  they  have 
come  at  my  call,  sometimes  by  surprise,  but  they  are  alwaj^s 
equally  pleasing.  What  interests  me  most  is  that,  when  a 
child  under  nine,  the  flight  of  roses  was  light,  slow,  soft,  close 
to  my  eyes,  roses  so  large  and  brilliant  and  palpable  that  I  tried 
to  touch  them ;  the  scent  was  overpowering,  the  petals  perfect, 
with  leaves  peeping  here  and  there,  texture  and  motion  all 
natural.  They  would  stay  a  long  time  before  the  sparks  came, 
and  they  occupied  a  large  area  in  black  space.  Then  the  sparks 
came  slowly  flying,  and  generally,  not  always,  effaced  the  roses 
at  once,  and  every  effort  to  retain  the  roses  failed.  Since  an 
early  age  the  flight  of  roses  has  annually  grown  smaller,  swifter, 
and  farther  off,  till  by  the  time  I  was  grown  up  my  vision  had 
become  a  speck,  so  instantaneous  that  I  had  hardly  time  to 
realise  that  it  was  there  before  the  fading  sparks  showed  that  it 
was  past.  This  is  how  they  still  come.  The  pleasure  of  them 
is  past,  and  it  always  depresses  me  to  speak  of  them,  though  I 
do  not  now,  as  I  did  when  a  child,  connect  the  vision  with 
any  elevated  spiritual  state.  But  when  I  read  Tennyson's 
Holy  Grail,   I  wondered  whether   anybody  else    had  had  my 


166  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

vision,  'Kose-red,  with  beatings  in  it.'  I  may  add,  I  was  a 
London  child  who  never  was  in  the  country  but  once,  and  I 
connect  no  particular  flowers  with  that  visit.  I  may  almost  say 
that  I  had  never  seen  a  rose,  certainly  not  a  quantity  of  them 
together." 

A  common  form  of  vision  is  a  phantasmagoria,  or 
the  appearance  of  a  crowd  of  phantoms,  sometimes 
hurrying  past  like  men  in  a  street.  It  is  occasion- 
ally seen  in  broad  daylight,  much  more  often  in  the 
dark ;  it  may  be  at  the  instant  of  putting  out  the 
candle,  but  it  generally  comes  on  when  the  person  is 
in  bed,  preparing  to  sleep,  but  by  no  means  yet 
asleep.  I  know  no  less  than  three  men,  eminent  in 
the  scientific  world,  who  have  these  phantasmagoria 
in  one  form  or  another.  It  will  seem  curious,  but  it 
is  a  fact  that  I  know  of  no  less  than  five  editors  of 
very  influential  newspapers  who  experience  these 
nioht  visitations  in  a  vivid  form.  Two  of  them  have 
described  the  phenomena  very  forcibly  in  print,  but 
anonymously,  and  two  others  have  written  on  cognate 
experiences. 

A  near  relative  of  my  own  saw  phantasmagoria 
very  frequently.  She  was  eminently  sane,  and  of 
such  good  constitution  that  her  faculties  were  hardly 
impaired  until  near  her  death  at  ninety.  She 
frequently  described  them  to  me.  It  gave  her 
amusement  during  an  idle  hour  to  watch  these 
faces,  for  their  expression  wras  always  pleasing, 
though  never  strikingly  beautiful.  No  two  faces 
were  ever  alike,  and  no  face  ever  resembled  that  of 
any  acquaintance.     When  she  was  not  well  the  faces 


VISIONARIES.  167 

usually  came  nearer  to  her,  sometimes  almost  suffo- 
catingly close.  She  never  mistook  them  for  reality, 
although  they  were  very  distinct.  This  is  quite  a 
typical  case,  similar  in  most  respects  to  many  others 
that  I  have.1 

A  notable  proportion  of  sane  persons  have  had 
not  only  visions,  but  actual  hallucinations  of  sight, 
sound,  or  other  sense,  at  one  or  more  periods  of  their 
lives.  I  have  a  considerable  packet  of  instances  con- 
tributed by  my  personal  friends,  besides  a  large 
number  communicated  to  me  by  other  correspond- 
ents. One  lady,  a  distinguished  authoress,  who  was 
at  the  time  a  little  fidgeted,  but  in  no  way  over- 
wrought or  ill,  assured  me  that  she  once  saw  the 
principal  character  of  one  of  her  novels  glide  through 
the  door  straight  up  to  her.  It  was  about  the  size 
of  a  large  doll,  and  it  disappeared  as  suddenly  as  it 
came.  Another  lady,  the  daughter  of  an  eminent 
musician,  often  imagines  she  hears  her  father  playing. 
The  day  she  told  me  of  it  the  incident  had  again 
occurred.  She  was  sitting  in  her  room  with  her 
maid,  and  she  asked  the  maid  to  open  the  door  that 
she  might  hear  the  music  better.  The  moment  the 
maid  got  up  the  hallucination  disappeared.  Again, 
another  lady,  apparently  in  vigorous  health,  and 
belonging  to  a  vigorous  family,  told  me  that  during 
some  past  months  she  had  been  plagued  by  voices. 
The  words  were  at  first  simple  nonsense  ;  then  the 
word    "pray"    was    frequently   repeated;    this   was 

See  some  curious  correspondence  on  this  subject  in  the  St.  James' 
Gazette,  Feb.  10,  15,  and  20,  1882. 


168  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

followed  by  some  more  or  less  coherent  sentences  of 
little  import,  and  finally  the  voices  left  her.  In 
short,  the  familiar  hallucinations  of  the  insane  are  to 
be  met  with  far  more  frequently  than  is  commonly 
supposed,  among  people  moving  in  society  and  in 
good  working  health. 

I    have   now  nearly  done  with  my  summary  of 
facts ;  it  remains  to  make  a  few  comments  on  them. 

The  weirdness  of  visions  lies  in  their  sudden 
appearance,  in  their  vividness  while  present,  and 
in  their  sudden  departure.  An  incident  in  the 
Zoological  Gardens  struck  me  as  a  helpful  simile. 
I  happened  to  walk  to  the  seal-pond  at  a  moment 
when  a  sheen  rested  on  the  unbroken  surface 
of  the  water.  After  waiting  a  while  I  became 
suddenly  aware  of  the  head  of  a  seal,  black,  con- 
spicuous, and  motionless,  just  as  though  it  had  always 
been  there,  at  a  spot  on  which  my  eye  had  rested  a 
moment  previously  and  seen  nothing.  Again,  after 
a  while  my  eye  wandered,  and  on  its  returning  to  the 
spot,  the  seal  was  gone.  The  water  had  closed  in 
silence  over  its  head  without  leaving  a  ripple,  and  the 
sheen  on  the  surface  of  the  pond  was  as  unbroken  as 
when  I  first  reached  it.  Where  did  the  seal  come 
from,  and  whither  did  it  go  ?  This  could  easily  have 
been  answered  if  the  glare  had  not  obstructed  the 
view  of  the  movements  of  the  animal  under  water. 
As  it  was,  a  solitary  link  in  a  continuous  chain  of 
actions  stood  isolated  from  all  the  rest.  So  it  is  with 
the  visions;  a  single  stage  in  a  series  of  mental 
processes  emerges  into  the  domain  of  consciousness. 


VISIONARIES.  169 

All  that  precedes  and  follows  lies  outside  of  it,  and 
its  character  can  only  be  inferred.  We  see  in  a 
general  way  that  a  condition  of  the  presentation 
of  visions  lies  in  the  over-sensitiveness  of  certain 
tracks  or  domains  of  brain  action  and  the  under- 
sensitiveness  of  others,  certain  stages  in  a  mental 
process  being  represented  very  vividly  in  conscious- 
ness while  the  other  stages  are  unfelt ;  also  that 
individualism  is  changed  to  dividualism. 

I  do  not  recollect  seeing  it  remarked  that  the 
ordinary  phenomena  of  dreaming  seem  to  show  that 
partial  sensitiveness  is  a  normal  condition  during 
sleep.  They  do  so  because  one  of  the  most  marked 
characteristics  of  the  dreamer  is  the  absence  of  com- 
mon sense.  He  accepts  wildly -incongruous  visions 
without  the  slightest  scepticism.  Now  common  sense 
consists  in  the  comprehension  of  a  large  number  of 
related  circumstances,  and  implies  the  simultaneous 
working  of  many  parts  of  the  brain.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  brain  is  known  to  be  imperfectly  supplied 
with  blood  during  sleep,  and  cannot  therefore  be  at 
full  work.  It  is  probable  enough,  from  hydraulic 
analogies,  that  imperfect  irrigation  would  lead  to 
partial  irrigation,  and  therefore  to  suppression  of 
action  in  some  parts  of  the  brain,  and  that  this  is 
really  the  case  seems  to  be  proved  by  the  absence 
of  common  sense  during  dreams. 

A  convenient  distinction  is  made  between  halluci- 
nations and  illusions.  Hallucinations  are  defined  as 
appearances  wholly  due  to  fancy  ;  illusions,  as  fanciful 


170  INQUIRIES   INTO    HUMAN   FACULTY. 

perceptions  of  objects  actually  seen.  There  is  also 
a  hybrid  case  which  depends  on  fanciful  visions  fanci- 
fully perceived.  The  problems  we  have  to  consider 
are,  on  the  one  hand,  those  connected  with  " induced" 
vision,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  those  connected  with 
the  interpretation  of  vision,  whether  the  vision  be 
direct  or  induced. 

It  is  probable  that  much  of  what  passes  for  hal- 
lucination proper  belongs  in  reality  to  the  hybrid  case, 
being  an  illusive  interpretation  of  some  induced  visual 
cloud  or  blur.  I  spoke  of  the  ever- varying  patterns 
in  the  optical  field  ;  these,  under  some  slight  functional 
change,  may  become  more  consciously  present,  and  be 
interpreted  into  fantasmal  appearances.  Many  cases 
could  be  adduced  to  support  this  view. 

I  will  begin  with  illusions.  What  is  the  process 
by  which  they  are  established  ?  There  is  no  simpler 
way  of  understanding  it  than  by  trying,  as  children 
often  do,  to  see  "faces  in  the  fire,"  and  to  carefully 
watch  the  way  in  which  they  are  first  caught.  Let 
us  call  to  mind  at  the  same  time  the  experience  of 
past  illnesses,  when  the  listless  gaze  wandered  over 
the  patterns  on  the  wall-paper  and  the  shadows  of  the 
bed-curtains,  and  slowly  evoked  the  appearances  of 
faces  and  figures  that  were  not  easily  laid  again.  The 
process  of  making  the  faces  is  so  rapid  in  health  that 
it  is  difficult  to  analyse  it  without  the  recollection  of 
what  took  place  more  slowly  when  we  were  weakened 
by  illness.  The  first  essential  element  in  their  con- 
struction is,  I  believe,  the  smallness  of  the  area  covered 
by  the  glance  at  any  instant,  so  that  the  eye  has  to 


VISIONARIES.  171 


travel  over  a  long  track  before  it  has  visited  every 
part  of  the  object  towards  which  the  attention  is 
directed  generally.  It  is  as  with  a  plough,  that  must 
travel  many  miles  before  the  whole  of  a  small  field 
can  be  tilled,  but  with  this  important  difference — the 
plough  travels  methodically  up  and  down  in  parallel 
furrows ;  the  eye  wanders  in  devious  curves,  with 
abrupt  bends,  and  the  direction  of  its  course  at  any 
instant  depends  on  four  causes:  (l)  on  the  easiest 
sequence  of  muscular  motion,  speaking  in  a  general 
sense,  (2)  on  idiosyncrasy,  (3)  on  the  mood,  and  (4) 
on  the  associations  current  at  the  moment.  The 
effect  of  idiosyncrasy  is  excellently  illustrated  by  the 
"  Number-Forms,"  where  we  observe  that  a  very  special 
sharply-defined  track  of  mental  vision  is  preferred  by 
each  individual  who  sees  them.  The  influence  of  the 
mood  of  the  moment  is  shown  in  the  curves  that  are 
felt  appropriate  to  the  various  emotions,  as  the  lank 
drooping  lines  of  grief,  which  make  the  weeping  wil- 
low so  fit  an  emblem  of  it.  In  constructing  fire-faces 
it  seems  to  me  that  the  eye  in  its  wanderings  tends  to 
follow  a  favourite  course,  and  it  especially  dwells  upon 
the  marks  that  happen  to  coincide  with  that  course. 
It  feels  its  way,  easily  diverted  by  associations  based 
on  what  has  just  been  noticed,  until  at  last,  by  the 
unconscious  practice  of  a  system  of  "  trial  and  error," 
it  hits  upon  a  track  that  will  suit — one  that  is  easily 
run  over  and  that  strings  together  accidental  marks  in 
a  way  that  happens  to  form  a  well-connected  picture. 
This  fancy  picture  is  then  dwelt  upon ;  all  that  is 
incongruous  with  it  becomes  disregarded,  while  all 


172  INQUIRIES   INTO    HUMAN   FACULTY. 

deficiencies  in  it  are  supplied  by  the  fantasy.  The 
latest  stages  of  the  process  might  be  represented  by  a 
diorama.  Three  lanterns  would  converge  on  the  same 
screen.  The  first  throws  an  image  of  what  the 
imagination  will  discard,  the  second  of  that  which  it 
will  retain,  the  third  of  that  which  it  will  supply. 
Turn  on  the  first  and  second,  and  the  picture  on 
the  screen  will  be  identical  with  that  which  fell 
on  the  retina.  Shut  off  the  first  and  turn  on  the 
third,  and  the  picture  will  be  identical  with  the 
illusion. 

Turner  the  painter  made  frequent  use  of  a  practice 
analogous  to  that  of  looking  for  fire-faces  in  the  burn- 
ing coals;  he  was  known  to  give  colours  to  children  to 
daub  in  play  on  paper,  while  he  keenly  watched  for 
suggestive  but  accidental*  combinations. 

I  have  myself  had  frequent  experience  of  the 
automatic  construction  of  fantastic  figures,  through  a 
practice  I  have  somewhat  encouraged  for  the  purpose, 
of  allowing  my  hand  to  scribble  at  its  own  will,  while 
I  am  giving  my  best  attention  to  what  is  being  said 
by  others,  as  at  small  committees.  It  is  always  a 
surprise  to  me  to  see  the  result  whenever  I  turn  my 
thoughts  on  what  I  have  been  sub-consciously  doing. 
I  can  rarely  recollect  even  a  few  of  the  steps  by  which 
the  drawings  were  made  ;  they  grew  piecemeal,  with 
some  almost  forgotten  notice,  from  time  to  time,  of 
the  sketch  as  a  whole.  I  can  trace  no  likeness  be- 
tween what  I  draw  and  the  images  that  present  them- 
selves to  me  in  dreams,  and  I  find  that  a  very  trifling 
accident,  such  as  a  chance  dot  on  the  paper,  may  have 


VISIONARIES.  173 

great  influence  on  the  general  character  of  any  one  of 

these  automatic  sketches. 

Visions,  like  dreams,  are  often  mere  patchworks 

built  up  of  bits  of  recollections.     The  following  is  one 

of  these : — 

"  When  passing  a  shop  in  Tottenham  Court  Eoad,  I  went  in 
to  order  a  Dutch  cheese,  and  the  proprietor  (a  bullet-headed  man 
whom  I  had  never  seen  before)  rolled  a  cheese  on  the  marble 
slab  of  his  counter,  asking  me  if  that  one  would  do.  I  answered 
'  Yes,'  left  the  shop,  and  thought  no  more  of  the  incident.  The 
following  evening,  on  closing  my  eyes,  I  saw  a  head  detached 
from  the  body  rolling  about  slightly  on  a  white  surface.  I  recog- 
nised the  face,  but  could  not  remember  where  I  had  seen  it,  and 
it  was  only  after  thinking  about  it  for  some  time  that  I  identified 
it  as  that  of  the  cheesemonger  who  had  sold  me  the  cheese  on 
the  previous  day.  I  may  mention  that  I  have  often  seen  the 
man  since,  and  that  I  found  the  vision  I  saw  was  exactly  like 
him,  although  if  I  had  been  asked  to  describe  the  man  before  I 
saw  the  vision  I  should  have  been  unable  to  do  so." 

Eecollections  need  not  be  combined  like  mosaic 
work ;  they  may  be  blended,  on  the  principle  of 
composite  portraiture.  I  suspect  that  the  phantas- 
magoria may  be  in  some  part  due  to  blended  memories ; 
the  number  of  possible  combinations  would  be  practi- 
cally endless,  and  each  combination  would  give  a  new 
face.  There  would  thus  be  no  limit  to  the  dies  in  the 
coinage  of  the  brain. 

I  have  found  that  the  peculiarities  of  visualisation, 
such  as  the  tendency  to  see  Number-Forms,  and  the 
still  rarer  tendency  to  associate  colour  with  sound,  is 
strongly  hereditary,  and  I  should  infer,  what  facts  seem 
to  confirm,  that  the  tendency  to  be  a  seer  of  visions  is 
equally  so.     Under  these  circumstances  we  should  ex- 


174  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN   FACULTY. 

pect  that  it  would  be  unequally  developed  in  different 
races,  and  that  a  large  natural  gift  of  the  visionary- 
faculty  might  become  characteristic  not  only  of  certain 
families,  as  among  the  second-sight  seers  of  Scotland, 
but  of  certain  races,  as  that  of  the  Gipsies. 

It  happens  that  the  mere  acts  of  fasting,  of  want 
of  sleep,  and  of  solitary  musing,  are  severally  conducive 
to  visions.  I  have  myself  been  told  of  cases  in  which 
persons  accidentally  long  deprived  of  food  became  for 
a  brief  time  subject  to  them.  One  was  of  a  pleasure 
party  driven  out  to  sea,  and  not  being  able  to  reach 
the  coast  till  nightfall,  at  a  jDlace  where  they  got  shelter 
but  nothing  to  eat.  They  were  mentally  at  ease  and 
conscious  of  safety,  but  all  were  troubled  with  visions 
that  were  half  dreams  and  half  hallucinations.  The 
cases  of  visions  following  protracted  wakefulness  are 
well  known,  and  I  have  collected  a  few  of  them 
myself.  I  have  already  spoken  of  the  maddening 
effect  of  solitariness,  its  influence  may  be  inferred 
from  the  recognised  advantages  of  social  amuse- 
ments in  the  treatment  of  the  insane.  It  follows 
that  the  spiritual  discipline  undergone  for  purposes 
of  self-control  and  self- mortification,  have  also  the 
incidental  effect  of  producing  visions.  It  is  to  be  ex- 
pected that  these  should  often  bear  a  close  relation  to 
the  prevalent  subjects  of  thought,  and  although  they 
may  be  really  no  more  than  the  products  of  one  por- 
tion of  the  brain,  which  another  portion  of  the  same 
brain  is  engaged  in  contemplating,  they  ofteu,  through 
error,  receive  a  religious  sanction.  This  is  notably  the 
case  among  half-civilised  races. 


VISIONARIES.  175 

The  number  of  great  men  who  have  been  once, 
twice,  or  more  frequently,  subject  to  hallucinations  is 
considerable.  A  list,  to  which  it  would  be  easy  to 
make  large  additions,  is  given  by  Brierre  de  Boismont 
(Hallucinations,  etc.,  1862),  from  whom  I  translate  the 
following  account  of  the  star  of  the  first  Napoleon, 
which  he  heard,  second-hand,  from  General  Rapp : — 

"In  1806  General  Rapp,  on  his  return  from  the  siege  of 
Dantzic,  having  occasion  to  speak  to  the  Emperor,  entered  his 
study  without  being  announced.  He  found  him  so  absorbed  that 
his  entry  was  unperceived.  The  General  seeing  the  Emperor 
continue  motionless,  thought  he  might  be  ill,  and  purposely  made 
a  noise.  Napoleon  immediately  roused  himself,  and  without  any 
preamble,  seizing  Rapp  by  the  arm,  said  to  him,  pointing  to  the 
sky,  '  Look  there,  up  there.'  The  General  remained  silent,  but 
on  being  asked  a  second  time,  he  answered  that  he  perceived 
nothing.  '  What !'  replied  the  Emperor,  'you  do  not  see  it  ?  It 
is  my  star,  it  is  before  you,  brilliant ;'  then  animating  by  degrees, 
he  cried  out,  '  it  has  never  abandoned  me,  I  see  it  on  all  great 
occasions,  it  commands  me  to  go  forward,  and  it  is  a  constant 
sign  of  good  fortune  to  me.'  " 

Napoleon  was  no  doubt  a  consummate  actor,  ready 
and  unscrupulous  in  imposing  on  others,  but  I  see  no 
reason  to  distrust  the  genuineness  of  this  particular 
outburst,  seeing  that  it  is  not  the  only  instance  of  his 
referring  to  the  guidance  of  his  star,  as  a  literal  vision 
and  not  as  a  mere  phrase,  and  that  his  belief  in  destiny 
was  notorious. 

It  appears  that  stars  of  this  kind,  so  frequently 
spoken  of  in  history,  and  so  well  known  as  a  metaphor 
in  language,  are  a  common  hallucination  of  the  insane. 
Brierre  de  Boismont  has  a  chapter  on  the  stars  of  great 
men.     I  cannot  doubt  that  visions  of  this  description 


176  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN    FACULTY. 

were  in  some  cases  the  basis  of  that  firm  belief  in 
astrology,  which  not  a  few  persons  of  eminence  for- 
merly entertained. 

The  hallucinations  of  great  men  may  be  accounted 
for  in  part  by  their  sharing  a  tendency  which  we  have 
seen  to  be  not  uncommon  in  the  human  race,  and  which, 
if  it  happens  to  be  natural  to  them,  is  liable  to  be 
developed  in  their  over-wrought  brains  by  the  isolation 
of  their  lives.  A  man  in  the  position  of  the  first 
Napoleon  could  have  no  intimate  associates ;  a  great 
philosopher  who  explores  ways  of  thought  far  ahead 
of  his  contemporaries  must  have  an  inner  world  in 
which  he  passes  long  and  solitary  hours.  Great  men 
may  be  even  indebted  to  touches  of  madness  for  their 
greatness  ;  the  ideas  by  which  they  are  haunted,  and 
to  whose  pursuit  they  devote  themselves,  and  by  which 
they  rise  to  eminence,  having  much  in  common  with 
the  monomania  of  insanity.  "  Striking  instances  of  great 
visionaries  may  be  mentioned,  who  had  almost  beyond 
doubt  those  very  nervous  seizures  with  which  the  tend- 
ency to  hallucinations  is  intimately  connected.  To 
take  a  single  instance,  Socrates,  whose  daimon  was  an 
audible  not  a  visual  appearance,  was,  as  has  been  often 
pointed  out,  subject  to  cataleptic  seizure,  standing  all 
night  through  in  a  rigid  attitude. 

It  is  remarkable  how  largely  the  visionary  tempera- 
ment has  manifested  itself  in  certain  periods  of  history 
and  epochs  of  national  life.  My  interpretation  of  the 
matter,  to  a  certain  extent,  is  this — That  the  visionary 
tendency  is  much  more  common  among  sane  people 
than  is  generally  suspected.     In  early  life,  it  seems  to 


NURTURE  AND  NATURE.  177 

to  be  a  hard  lesson  to  an  imaginative  child  to  distin- 
guish between  the  real  and  visionary  world.  If  the 
fantasies  are  habitually  laughed  at  and  otherwise  dis- 
couraged, the  child  soon  acquires  the  power  of  distin- 
guishing them  ;  any  incongruity  or  nonconformity  is 
quickly  noted,  the  visions  are  found  out  and  discredited, 
and  are  no  further  attended  to.  In  this  way  the  natural 
tendency  to  see  them  is  blunted  by  repression.  There- 
fore, when  popular  opinion  is  of  a  matter-of-fact  kind, 
the  seers  of  visions  keep  quiet ;  they  do  not  like  to  be 
thought  fanciful  or  mad,  and  they  hide  their  experi- 
ences, which  only  come  to  light  through  inquiries  such 
as  these  that  I  have  been  making.  But  let  the  tide 
of  opinion  change  and  grow  favourable  to  supernatur- 
alism,  then  the  seers  of  visions  come  to  the  front. 
The  faintly-perceived  fantasies  of  ordinary  persons 
become  invested  by  the  authority  of  reverend  men 
with  a  claim  to  serious  regard ;  they  are  consequently 
attended  to  and  encouraged,  and  they  increase  in 
definition  through  being  habitually  dwelt  upon.  We 
need  not  suppose  that  a  faculty  previously  non- 
existent has  been  suddenly  evoked,  but  that  a  faculty 
long  smothered  by  many  in  secret  has  been  suddenly 
allowed  freedom  to  express  itself,  and  to  run  into 
extravagance  owing  to  the  removal  of  reasonable 
safeguards. 


"& 


Nurture  and  Nature. 

Man  is  so  educable  an  animal  that  it  is  difficult  to 
distinguish  between  that  part  of  his  character  which 

N 


178  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

has  been  acquired  through  education  and  circum- 
stance, and  that  which  was  in  the  original  grain  of 
his  constitution.  His  character  is  exceedingly  com- 
plex, even  in  members  of  the  simplest  and  purest 
savage  race ;  much  more  is  it  so  in  civilised  races,  who 
have  long  since  been  exempted  from  the  full  rigour 
of  natural  selection,  and  have  become  more  mongrel 
in  their  breed  than  any  other  animal  on  the  face  of 
the  earth.  Different  aspects  of  the  multifarious  cha- 
racter of  man  respond  to  different  calls  from  without, 
so  that  the  same  individual,  and,  much  more,  the 
same  race,  may  behave  very  differently  at  different 
epochs.  There  may  have  been  no  fundamental 
change  of  character,  but  a  different  phase  or  mood 
of  it  may  have  been  evoked  by  special  circumstances, 
or  those  persons  in  whom  that  mood  is  naturally 
dominant  may  through  some  accident  have  the  op- 
portunity of  acting  for  the  time  as  representatives 
of  the  race.  The  same  nation  may  be  seized  by  a 
military  fervour  at  one  period,  and  by  a  commercial 
one  at  another  ;  they  may  be  humbly  submissive 
to  a  monarch,  or  become  outrageous  republicans. 
The  love  of  art,  gaiety,  adventure,  science,  religion 
may  be  severally  paramount  at  different  times. 

One  of  the  most  notable  changes  that  can  come 
over  a  nation  is  from  a  state  corresponding  to  that 
of  our  past  dark  ages  into  one  like  that  of  the 
Renaissance.  In  the  first  case  the  minds  of  men  are 
wholly  taken  up  with  routine  work,  and  in  copying 
what  their  predecessors  have  done;  they  degrade  into 
servile  imitators  and  submissive  slaves  to  the  past. 


NURTURE  AND  NATURE.  179 

In  the  second  case,  some  circumstance  or  idea  has 
finally  discredited  the  authorities  that  impeded  intel- 
lectual growth,  and  has  unexpectedly  revealed  new 
possibilities.  Then  the  mind  of  the  nation  is  set 
free,  a  direction  of  research  is  giyen  to  it,  and  all 
the  exploratory  and  hunting  instincts  are  awakened. 
These  sudden  eras  of  great  intellectual  progress  can- 
not be  due  to  any  alteration  in  the  natural  faculties 
of  the  race,  because  there  has  not  been  time  for  that, 
but  to  their  being  directed  in  productive  channels. 
Most  of  the  leisure  of  the  men  of  every  nation  is 
spent  in  rounds  of  reiterated  actions ;  if  it  could  be 
spent  in  continuous  advance  along  new  lines  of  re- 
search in  unexplored  regions,  vast  progress  would  be 
sure  to  be  made.  It  has  been  the  privilege  of  this 
generation  to  have  had  fresh  fields  of  research  pointed 
out  to  them  by  Darwin,  and  to  have  undergone  a 
new  intellectual  birth  under  the  inspiration  of  his 
fertile  genius. 

A  pure  love  of  change,  acting  according  to  some 
law  of  contrast  as  yet  imperfectly  understood,  especi- 
ally characterises  civilised  man.  After  a  long  con- 
tinuance of  one  mood  he  wants  to  throw  himself  into 
another  for  the  pleasure  of  setting  faculties  into 
action  that  have  been  long  disused,  but  not  yet 
paralysed  by  disuse,  and  which  have  become  fidgety 
for  employment.  He  has  so  many  opportunities  for 
procuring  change,  and  has  so  complex  a  nature  that 
he  easily  learns  to  neglect  a  more  deeply-seated 
feeling    that   innovation    is    wicked,   and   which    is 


180  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

manifest  in  children  and  barbarians.  To  a  civilised 
man  the  varied  interests  of  civilisation  are  tempta- 
tions in  as  many  directions ;  changes  in  dress  and 
appliances  of  all  kinds  are  comparatively  inexpen- 
sive to  him  owing  to  the  cheapness  of  manufactures 
and  their  variety ;  change  of  scene  is  easy  from  the 
conveniences  of  locomotion.  But  a  barbarian  has 
none  of  these  facilities:  his  interests  are  few;  his  dress, 
such  as  it  is,  is  intended  to  stand  the  wear  and  tear 
of  years,  and  all  weathers ;  it  is  relatively  very 
costly,  and  is  an  investment,  one  may  say,  of  his 
capital  rather  than  of  his  income  ;  the  invention  of 
his  people  is  sluggish,  and  their  arts  are  few,  con- 
sequently he  is  perforce  taught  to  be  conservative, 
his  ideas  are  fixed,  and  he  becomes  scandalised  even 
at  the  suggestion  of  change. 

The  difficulty  of  indulging  in  variety  is  incom- 
parably greater  among  the  rest  of  the  animal  world. 
If  a  pea-hen  should  take  it  into  her  head  that  bars 
would  be  prettier  than  eyes  in  the  tail  of  her  spouse, 
she  could  not  possibly  get  what  she  wanted.  It 
would  require  hundreds  of  generations  in  which 
the  pea-hens  generally  concurred  in  the  same  view 
before  sexual  selection  could  effect  the  desired  altera- 
tion. The  feminine  delight  of  indulging  her  caprice 
in  matters  of  ornament  is  a  luxury  denied  to  the 
females  of  the  brute  world,  and  the  law  that  rules 
changes  in  taste,  if  studied  at  all,  can  only  be  ascer- 
tained by  observing  the  alternations  of  fashion  in 
civilised  communities. 


NURTURE  AND  NATURE.  181 

There  are  long  sequences  of  changes  in  character, 
which,  like  the  tunes  of  a  musical  snuff-box,  are  fjj 
regulated  by  internal  mechanism.  They  are  such  as  P1*  *; 
those  of  Shakespeare's  "  Seven  Ages,"  and  others 
due  to  the  progress  of  various  diseases.  The  lives 
of  birds  are  characterised  by  long  chains  of  these 
periodic  sequences.  They  are  mostly  mute  in  winter, 
after  that  they  begin  to  sing ;  some  species  are 
seized  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  with  so  strong  a 
passion  for  migrating  that  if  confined  in  a  cage  they 
will  beat  themselves  to  death  against  its  bars  ;  then 
follow  courtship  and  pairing,  accompanied  by  an  ac- 
cess of  ferocity  among  the  males  and  severe  fighting 
for  the  females.  Next  an  impulse  seizes  them  to 
build  nests,  then  a  desire  for  incubation,  then  one  for 
the  feeding  of  their  young.  After  this  a  newly- 
arisen  tendency  to  gregariousness  groups  them  into 
large  flocks,  and  finally  they  fly  away  to  the  place 
whence  they  came,  goaded  by  a  similar  instinct 
to  that  which  drove  them  forth  a  few  months  pre- 
viously. These  remarkable  changes  are  mainly  due 
to  the  conditions  of  their  natures,  because  they 
persist  with  more  or  less  regularity  under  altered 
circumstances.  Nevertheless,  they  are  not  wholly 
independent  of  circumstance,  because  the  period  of 
migration,  though  nearly  coincident  in  successive 
years,  is  modified  to  some  small  extent  by  the 
weather  and  condition  of  the  particular  year. 

The   interaction  of  nature    and   circumstance   is 
very  close,  and  it  is  impossible  to  separate  them  with 


182  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

precision.  Nurture  acts  before  birth,  during  every 
stage  of  embryonic  and  pre -embryonic  existence, 
causing  the  potential  faculties  at  the  time  of  birth 
to  be  in  some  degree  the  effect  of  nurture.  We  need 
not,  however,  be  hypercritical  about  distinctions ; 
we  know  that  the  bulk  of  the  respective  provinces 
of  nature  and  nurture  are  totally  different,  although 
the  frontier  between  them  may  be  uncertain,  and  we 
are  perfectly  justified  in  attempting  to  appraise  their 
relative  importance. 

I  shall  begin  with  describing  some  of  the  principal 
influences  that  may  safely  be  ascribed  to  education 
or  other  circumstances,  all  of  which  I  include  under 
the  comprehensive  term  of  Nurture. 


Associations. 

The  furniture  of  a  man's  mind  chiefly  consists  of 
his  recollections  and  the  bonds  that  unite  them.  As 
all  this  is  the  fruit  of  experience,  it  must  differ 
greatly  in  different  minds  according  to  their  indi- 
vidual experiences.  I  have  endeavoured  to  take 
stock  of  my  own  mental  furniture  in  the  way  de- 
scribed in  the  next  chapter,  in  which  it  will  be  seen 
how  large  a  part  consists  of  childish  recollections, 
testifying  to  the  permanent  effect  of  many  of  the 
results  of  early  education.  The  same  fact  has  been 
strongly  brought  out  by  the  replies  from  corre- 
spondents whom  I  had  questioned  on  their  mental 
imagery.     It  was  frequently  stated  that  the  mental 


ASSOCIATIONS.  183 

image  invariably  evoked  by  certain  words  was 
some  event  of  childish  experience  or  fancy.  Thus 
one  correspondent,  of  no  mean  literary  and  philo- 
sophical power,  recollects  the  left  hand  by  a  mental 
reference  to  the  rocking-horse  which  always  stood  by 
the  side  of  the  nursery  wall  with  its  head  in  the 
same  direction^  and  had  to  be  mounted  from  the  side 
next  the  wall.  Another,  a  politician,  historian,  and 
scholar,  refers  all  his  dates  to  the  mental  image  of  a 
nursery  diagram  of  the  history  of  the  world,  which 
has  since  developed  huge  bosses  to  support  his  later 
acquired  information. 

Our  abstract  ideas  being  mostly  drawn  from  ex- 
ternal experiences,  their  character  also  must  depend 
upon  the  events  of  our  individual  histories.  For 
example,  the  spoken  words  house  and  home  must 
awaken  ideas  derived  from  the  houses  and  the  homes 
with  which  the  hearer  is,  in  one  way  or  other,  ac- 
quainted, and  these  could  not  be  the  same  to  persons 
of  various  social  positions  and  places  of  residence. 
The  character  of  our  abstract  ideas,  therefore,  de- 
pends, to  a  considerable  degree,  on  our  nurture. 

I  doubt,  however,  whether  "  abstract  idea "  is  a 
correct  phrase  in  many  of  the  cases  in  which  it  is 
used,  and  whether  "  cumulative  idea "  would  not  be 
more  appropriate.  The  ideal  faces  obtained  by  the 
method  of  composite  portraiture  appear  to  have  a 
great  deal  in  common  with  these  so-called  abstract 
ideas.  The  composite  portraits  consist,  as  was  ex- 
plained, of  numerous  superimposed  pictures,  forming 
a  cumulative  result  in  which  the  features  that  are 


184  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

common  to  all  the  likenesses  are  clearly  seen  ;  those 
that  are  common  to  a  few  are  relatively  faint  and  are 
more  or  less  overlooked,  while  those  that  are  peculiar 
to  single  individuals  leave  no  sensible  trace  at  all. 

This  analogy,  which  I  pointed  out  in  a  Memoir 
on  Generic  Images,1  has  been  extended  and  confirmed 
by  subsequent  experience  of  the  process.  One  ob- 
jection to  my  view  was  that  our  so-called  generali- 
sations are  commonly  no  more  than  representative 
cases,  our  recollections  being  apt  to  be  unduly  in- 
fluenced by  particular  events,  and  not  by  the  totality 
of  what  we  have  seen  ;  that  the  reason  why  some  one 
recollection  has  prevailed  is  that  the  case  was  sharply 
defined,  or  had  something  unusual  about  it,  or  that 
our  frame  of  mind  was  at  the  time  of  observation 
susceptible  to  that  particular  kind  of  impression.  I 
have  had  exactly  the  same  difficulties  with  the  com- 
posites. If  one  of  the  individual  portraits  has  sharp 
outlines,  or  if  it  is  unlike  the  rest,  or  if  the  illumina- 
tion is  temporarily  strong,  it  will  assert  itself  unduly 
in  the  result.  The  cases  seem  to  me  exactly  ana- 
logous. I  get  over  my  photographic  difficulty  very 
easily  by  throwing  the  sharp  portrait  a  little  out  of 
focus,  by  eliminating  such  portraits  as  have  excep- 
tional features,  and  by  toning  down  the  illumination 
to  a  standard  intensity. 

1  "  Generic  Images,"  Proc.  Royal  Institute,  Friday,  April  25,  1879, 
partly  reprinted  in  the  Appendix. 


PSYCHOMETRIC    EXPERIMENTS.  185 


Psychometric  Experiments. 

When  we  attempt  to  trace  the  first  steps  in  each 
operation  of  our  minds,  we  are  usually  baulked  by 
the  difficulty  of  keeping  watch,  without  embarrassing 
the  freedom  of  its  action.  The  difficulty  is  much 
more  than  the  common  and  well-known  one  of 
attending  to  two  things  at  once.  It  is  especially 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  elementary  operations  of  the 
mind  are  exceedingly  faint  and  evanescent,  and  that 
it  requires  the  utmost  painstaking  to  watch  them 
properly.  It  would  seem  impossible  to  give  the 
required  attention  to  the  processes  of  thought,  and  yet 
to  think  as  freely  as  if  the  mind  had  been  in  no  way 
preoccupied.  The  peculiarity  of  the  experiments  I 
am  about  to  describe  is  that  I  have  succeeded  in 
evading  this  difficulty.  My  method  consists  in 
allowing  the  mind  to  play  freely  for  a  very  brief 
period,  until  a  couple  or  so  of  ideas  have  passed 
through  it,  and  then,  while  the  traces  or  echoes  of 
those  ideas  are  still  lingering  in  the  brain,  to  turn  the 
attention  upon  them  with  a  sudden  and  complete 
awakening ;  to  arrest,  to  scrutinise  them,  and  to 
record  their  exact  appearance.  Afterwards  I  collate 
the  records  at  leisure,  and  discuss  them,  and  draw 
conclusions.  It  must  be  understood  that  the  second 
of  the  two  ideas  was  never  derived  from  the  first,  but 
always  directly  from  the  original  object.  This  was 
ensured  by  absolutely  withstanding  all  temptation  to 
reverie.     I  do  not  mean  that  the  first  idea  was  of 


186  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

necessity  a  simple  elementary  thought ;  sometimes  it 
was  a  glance  down  a  familiar  line  of  associations, 
sometimes  it  was  a  well-remembered  mental  attitude 
or  mode  of  feeling,  but  I  mean  that  it  was  never  so 
far  indulged  in  as  to  displace  the  object  that  had 
suggested  it  from  being  the  primary  topic  of  atten- 
tion. 

I  must  add,  that  I  found  the  experiments  to  be 
extremely  trying  and  irksome,  and  that  it  required 
much  resolution  to  go  through  with  them,  using  the 
scrupulous  care  they  demanded.  Nevertheless  the 
results  well  repaid  the  trouble.  They  gave  me  an 
interesting  and  unexpected  view  of  the  number  of 
the  operations  of  the  mind,  and  of  the  obscure  depths 
in  which  they  took  place,  of  which  I  had  been  little 
conscious  before.  The  general  impression  they  have 
left  upon  me  is  like  that  which  many  of  us  have 
experienced  when  the  basement  of  our  house  happens 
to  be  under  thorough  sanitary  repairs,  and  we  realise 
for  the  first  time  the  complex  system  of  drains  and 
gas  and  water  pipes,  flues,  bell-wires,  and  so  forth, 
upon  which  our  comfort  depends,  but  which  are 
usually  hidden  out  of  sight,  and  with  whose  existence, 
so  long  as  they  acted  well,  we  had  never  troubled 
ourselves. 

The  first  experiments  I  made  were  imperfect,  but 
sufficient  to  inspire  me  with  keen  interest  in  the 
matter,  and  suggested  the  form  of  procedure  that  I 
have  already  partly  described.  My  first  experiments 
were  these.  On  several  occasions,  but  notably  on 
one  when  I  felt  myself  unusually  capable  of  the  kind 


PSYCHOMETRIC   EXPERIMENTS.  187 

of  effort  required,  I  walked  leisurely  along  Pall  Mall, 
a  distance  of  450  yards,  during  which  time  I  scruti- 
nised with  attention  every  successive  object  that 
caught  my  eyes,  and  I  allowed  my  attention  to  rest 
on  it  until  one  or  two  thoughts  had   arisen  throuoh 

o  o 

direct  association  with  that  object ;  then  I  took  very 
brief  mental  note  of  them,  and  passed  on  to  the  next 
object.  I  never  allowed  my  mind  to  ramble.  The 
number  of  objects  viewed  was,  I  think,  about  300, 
for  I  had  subsequently  repeated  the  same  walk  under 
similar  conditions  and  endeavoured  to  estimate  their 
number,  with  that  result.  It  was  impossible  for  me 
to  recall  in  other  than  the  vaguest  way  the  numerous 
ideas  that  had  passed  through  my  mind ;  but  of  this, 
at  least,  I  am  sure,  that  samples  of  my  whole  life  had 
passed  before  me,  that  many  bygone  incidents,  which 
I  never  suspected  to  have  formed  part  of  my  stock  of 
thoughts,  had  been  glanced  at  as  objects  too  familiar 
to  awaken  the  attention.  I  saw  at  once  that  the 
brain  was  vastly  more  active  than  I  had  previously 
believed  it  to  be,  and  I  was  perfectly  amazed  at  the 
unexpected  width  of  the  field  of  its  everyday  opera- 
tions. After  an  interval  of  some  days,  during  which 
I  kept  my  mind  from  dwelling  on  my  first  experi- 
ences, in  order  that  it  might  retain  as  much  freshness 
as  possible  for  a  second  experiment,  I  repeated  the 
walk,  and  was  struck  just  as  much  as  before  by  the 
variety  of  the  ideas  that  presented  themselves,  and 
the  number  of  events  to  which  they  referred,  about 
which  I  had  never  consciously  occupied  myself  of 
late   years.     But  my  admiration  at  the   activity  of 


188  INQUIRIES    INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

the  mind  was  seriously  diminished  by  another  observa- 
tion which  I  then  made,  namely,  that  there  had  been 
a  very  great  deal  of  repetition  of  thought.  The 
actors  in  my  mental  stage  were  indeed  very  numer- 
ous, but  by  no  means  so  numerous  as  I  had  imagined. 
They  now  seemed  to  be  something  like  the  actors  in 
theatres  where  large  processions  are  represented,  who 
march  off  one  side  of  the  stage,  and,  going  round  by 
the  back,  come  on  again  at  the  other.  I  accordingly 
cast  about  for  means  of  laying  hold  of  these  fleeting 
thoughts,  and,  submitting  them  to  statistical  analysis, 
to  find  out  more  about  their  tendency  to  repetition 
and  other  matters,  and  the  method  I  finally  adopted 
was  the  one  already  mentioned.  I  selected  a  list  of 
suitable  words,  and  wrote  them  on  different  small 
sheets  of  paper.  Taking  care  to  dismiss  them  from 
my  thoughts  when  not  engaged  upon  them,  and 
allowing  some  days  to  elapse  before  I  began  to  use 
them,  I  laid  one  of  these  sheets  with  all  due  precau- 
tions under  a  book,  but  not  wholly  covered  by  it,  so 
that  when  I  leaned  forward  I  could  see  one  of  the 
words,  being  previously  quite  ignorant  of  what  the 
word  would  be.  Also  I  held  a  small  chronograph, 
which  I  started  by  pressing  a  spring  the  moment  the 
word  caught  my  eye,  and  which  stopped  of  itself  the 
instant  I  released  the  spring ;  and  this  I  did  so  soon 
as  about  a  couple  of  ideas  in  direct  association  with 
the  word  had  arisen  in  my  mind.  I  found  that  I 
could  not  manage  to  recollect  more  than  two  ideas 
with  the  needed  precision,  at  least  not  in  a  general 
way ;  but  sometimes  several  ideas  occurred  so  nearly 


-<-' 


PSYCHOMETRIC   EXPERIMENTS.  189 

together  that  I  was  able  to  record  three  or  even  four 
of  them,  while  sometimes  I  only  managed  one.  The 
second  ideas  were,  as  I  have  already  said,  never 
derived  from  the  first,  but  always  direct  from  the 
word  itself,  for  I  kept  my  attention  firmly  fixed  on 
the  word,  and  the  associated  ideas  were  seen  only  by 
a  half  glance.  When  the  two  ideas  had  occurred,  I 
stopped  the  chronograph  and  wrote  them  down,  and 
the  time  they  occupied.  I  soon  got  into  the  way  of 
doing  all  this  in  a  very  methodical  and  automatic 
manner,  keeping  the  mind  perfectly  calm  and  neutral, 
but  intent  and,  as  it  were,  at  full  cock  and  on  hair 
trigger,  before  displaying  the  word.  There  was  no 
disturbance  occasioned  by  thinking  of  the  forthcoming 
revulsion  of  the  mind  the  moment  before  the  chrono- 
graph was  stopped.  My  feeling  before  stopping  it 
was  simply  that  I  had  delayed  long  enough,  and  this 
in  no  way  interfered  with  the  free  action  of  the  mind. 
I  found  no  trouble  in  ensuring  the  complete  fairness 
of  the  experiment,  by  using  a  number  of  little  pre- 
cautions, hardly  necessary  to  describe,  that  practice 
quickly  suggested,  but  it  was  a  most  repugnant  and 
laborious  work,  and  it  was  only  by  strong  self-con- 
trol that  I  went  through  my  schedule  according  to 
programme.  The  list  of  words  that  I  finally  secured 
was  75  in  number,  though  I  began  with  more.  I 
went  through  them  on  four  separate  occasions,  under 
very  different  circumstances,  in  England  and  abroad, 
and  at  intervals  of  about  a  month.  In  no  case  were 
the  associations  governed  to  any  degree  worth  record- 
ing, by  remembering  what  had  occurred  to  me   on 


190  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

previous  occasions,  for  I  found  that  the  process  itself 
had  great  influence  in  discharging  the  memory  of 
what  it  had  just  been  engaged  in,  and  I,  of  course, 
took  care  between  the  experiments  never  to  let  my 
thoughts  revert  to  the  words.  The  results  seem  to 
me  to  be  as  trustworthy  as  any  other  statistical  series 
that  has  been  collected  with  equal  care. 

On  throwing  these  results  into  a  common  statis- 
tical hotch-pot,  I  first  examined  into  the  rate  at  which 
these  associated  ideas  were  formed.  It  took  a  total 
time  of  660  seconds  to  form  the  505  ideas ;  that  is,  at 
about  the  rate  of  50  in  a  minute,  or  3000  in  an  hour. 
This  would  be  miserably  slow  work  in  reverie,  or 
wherever  the  thought  follows  the  lead  of  each  associa- 
tion that  successively  presents  itself.  In  the  present 
case,  much  time  was  lost  in  mentally  taking  the  word 
in,  owing  to  the  quiet  unobtrusive  way  in  which  I 
found  it  necessary  to  bring  it  into  view,  so  as  not  to 
distract  the  thoughts.  Moreover,  a  substantive  stand- 
ing by  itself  is  usually  the  equivalent  of  too  abstract 
an  idea  for  us  to  conceive  properly  without  delay. 
Thus  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  a  quick  conception  of 
the  word  "  carriage,"  because  there  are  so  many  differ- 
ent kinds  —  two-wheeled,  four-wheeled,  open  and 
closed,  and  all  of  them  in  so  many  different  possible 
positions,  that  the  mind  possibly  hesitates  amidst  an 
obscure  sense  of  many  alternatives  that  cannot  blend 
together.  But  limit  the  idea  to  say  a  landau,  and 
the  mental  association  declares  itself  more  quickly. 
Say  a  landau  coming  down  the  street  to  opposite  the 
door,  and  an  image  of  many  blended  landaus  that 


PSYCHOMETRIC    EXPERIMENTS. 


191 


have  done  so  forms  itself  without  the  least  hesita- 
tion. 

Next,  I  found  that  my  list  of  75  words  gone  over 
4  times,  had  given  rise  to  505  ideas  and  13  cases  of 
puzzle,  in  which  nothing  sufficiently  definite  to  note 
occurred  within  the  brief  maximum  period  of  about  4 
seconds,  that  I  allowed  myself  to  any  single  trial. 
Of  these  505  only  289  were  different.  The  precise 
proportions  in  which  the  505  were  distributed  in 
quadruplets,  triplets,  doublets,  or  singles,  is  shown  in 
the  uppermost  lines  of  Table  I.  The  same  facts  are 
given  under  another  form  in  the  lower  lines  of  the 
Table,  which  show  how  the  289  different  ideas  were 
distributed  in  cases  of  fourfold,  treble,  double,  or 
single  occurrences. 

TABLE   I. 
Recurrent  Associations. 


Total  Number  of 
Associations. 

Occurring  in 

Quadruplets. 

Triplets. 

Doublets. 

Singles. 

505 

116 

108 

114 

167 

Percent       .      100 

23 

21 

23 

33 

Total  Number  of 
Different  Associations. 

Occurring 

Four  times. 

Three  times. 

Twice. 

Once. 

289 

29 

36 

57 

167 

Per  cent      .      100 

10 

12 

20 

58 

I  was  fully  prepared  to  find  much  iteration  in  my 


192  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN   FACULTY. 

ideas,  but  had  little  expected  that  out  of  every  hundred 
words  twenty-three  would  give  rise  to  exactly  the 
same  association  in  every  one  of  the  four  trials ; 
twenty- one  to  the  same  association  in  three  out  of 
the  four,  and  so  on,  the  experiments  having  been 
purposely  conducted  under  very  different  conditions 
of  time  and  local  circumstances.  This  shows  much 
less  variety  in  the  mental  stock  of  ideas  than  I  had 
expected,  and  makes  us  feel  that  the  roadways  of  our 
minds  are  worn  into  very  deep  ruts.  I  conclude  from 
the  proved  number  of  faint  and  barely  conscious 
thoughts,  and  from  the  proved  iteration  of  them,  that 
the  mind  is  perpetually  travelling  over  familiar  ways 
without  our  memory  retaining  any  impression  of  its 
excursions.  Its  footsteps  are  so  light  and  fleeting 
that  it  is  only  by  such  experiments  as  I  have  de- 
scribed that  we  can  learn  anything  about  them.  It 
is  apparently  always  engaged  in  mumbling  over  its 
old  stores,  and  if  any  one  of  these  is  wholly  neglected 
for  a  while,  it  is  apt  to  be  forgotten,  perhaps  irrecov- 
erably. It  is  by  no  means  the  keenness  of  interest 
and  of  the  attention  when  first  observing  an  object, 
that  fixes  it  in  the  recollection.  We  pore  over  the 
pages  of  a  Bradshaiv,  and  study  the  trains  for  some 
particular  journey  with  the  greatest  interest ;  but  the 
event  passes  by,  and  the  hours  and  other  facts  which 
we  once  so  eagerly  considered  become  absolutely 
forgotten.  So  in  games  of  whist,  and  in  a  large 
number  of  similar  instances.  As  I  understand  it,  the 
subject  must  have  a  continued  living  interest  in  order 
to  retain  an  abiding  place  in  the  memory.     The  mind 


PSYCHOMETRIC    EXPERIMENTS.  193 

must  refer  to  it  frequently,  but  whether  it  does  so 
consciously  or  unconsciously  is  not  perhaps  a  matter 
of  much  importance.  Otherwise,  as  a  general  rule, 
the  recollection  sinks,  and  appears  to  be  utterly 
drowned  in  the  waters  of  Lethe. 

The  instances,  according  to  my  personal  experience, 
are  very  rare,  and  even  those  are  not  very  satisfactory, 
in  which  some  event  recalls  a  memory  that  had  lain 
absolutely  dormant  for  many  years.  In  this  very  series 
of  experiments  a  recollection  which  I  thought  had  en- 
tirely lapsed  appeared  under  no  less  than  three  different 
aspects  on  different  occasions.  It  was  this  :  when  I 
was  a  boy,  my  father,  who  was  anxious  that  I  should 
learn  something  of  physical  science,  which  was  then 
never  taught  at  school,  arranged  with  the  owner  of  a 
large  chemist's  shop  to  let  me  dabble  at  chemistry  for 
a  few  days  in  his  laboratory.  I  had  not  thought  of 
this  fact,  so  far  as  I  was  aware,  for  many  years ;  but 
in  scrutinising  the  fleeting  associations  called  up  by 
the  various  words,  I  traced  two  mental  visual  images 
(an  alembic  and  a  particular  arrangement  of  tables 
and  light),  and  one  mental  sense  of  smell  (chlorine 
gas)  to  that  very  laboratory.  I  recognised  that  these 
images  appeared  familiar  to  me,  but  I  had  not  thought 
of  their  origin.  No  doubt  if  some  strange  conjunction 
of  circumstances  had  suddenly  recalled  those  three  asso- 
ciations at  the  same  time,  with  perhaps  two  or  three 
other  collateral  matters  which  may  be  still  living  in  my 
memory,  but  which  I  do  not  as  yet  identify,  a  mental 
perception  of  startling  vividness  would  be  the  result, 
and  1  should  have  falsely  imagined  that  it  had  super- 

o 


194  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

naturally,  as  it  were,  started  into  life  from  an  entire 
oblivion  extending  over  many  years.  Probably  many 
persons  would  have  registered  such  a  case  as  evidence 
that  things  once  perceived  can  never  wholly  vanish 
from  the  recollection,  but  that  in  the  hour  of  death, 
or  under  some  excitement,  every  event  of  a  past  life 
may  reappear.  To  this  view  I  entirely  dissent. 
Forgetfulness  appears  absolute  in  the  vast  majority 
of  cases,  and  our  supposed  recollections  of  a  past  life 
are,  I  believe,  no  more  than  that  of  a  large  number 
of  episodes  in  it,  to  be  reckoned  perhaps  in  hundreds 
of  thousands,  but  certainly  not  in  tens  of  hundreds  of 
thousands,  that  have  escaped  oblivion.  Every  one  of 
the  fleeting,  half- conscious  thoughts  that  were  the 
subject  of  my  experiments,  admitted  of  being  vivified 
by  keen  attention,  or  by  some  appropriate  association, 
but  I  strongly  suspect  that  ideas  which  have  long 
since  ceased  to  fleet  through  the  brain,  owing  to  the 
absence  of  current  associations  to  call  them  up, 
disappear  wholly.  A  comparison  of  old  memories 
with  a  newly-met  friend  of  one's  boyhood,  about  the 
events  we  then  witnessed  together,  shows  how  much 
we  had  each  of  us  forgotten.  Our  recollections  do 
not  tally.  Actors  and  incidents  that  seem  to  have 
been  of  primary  importance  in  those  events  to  the 
one  have  been  utterly  forgotten  by  the  other.  The 
recollection  of  our  earlier  years  are,  in  truth,  very 
scanty,  as  any  one  will  find  who  tries  to  enumerate 
them. 

My  associated  ideas  were  for  the  most  part  due  to 
my  own  unshared  experiences,  and  the  list  of  them 


PSYCHOMETRIC    EXPERIMENTS. 


195 


would  necessarily  differ  widely  from  that  which 
another  person  would  draw  up  who  might  repeat  my 
experiments.  Therefore  one  sees  clearly,  and  I  may 
say,  one  can  see  measurably,  how  impossible  it  is 
in  a  general  way  for  two  grown-up  persons  to  lay 
their  minds  side  by  side  together  in  perfect  accord. 
The  same  sentence  cannot  produce  precisely  the  same 
effect  on  both,  and  the  first  quick  impressions  that 
any  given  word  in  it  may  convey,  will  differ  widely 
in  the  two  minds. 

I  took  pains  to  determine  as  far  as  feasible  the 
dates  of  my  life  at  which  each  of  the  associated  ideas 
was  first  attached  to  the  word.  There  were  124  cases 
in  which  identification  was  satisfactory,  and  they  were 
distributed  as  in  Table  II. 


TABLE 

II. 

Relative  Number  of 

Associations  formed  at  different  Periods  of 

Life. 

Total  number 

of  different 
Associations. 

Occurring 

Whose  first  formation 
was  in 

boyhood  and  youth, 

four  times. 

three  times. 

twice. 

once. 

48 

per 
cent. 

12 

per 
cent. 

10 

11 

per 
cent. 

9 

per 
cent. 

7 
1 

16 

per 
cent. 

13 

39 

9 

57 

46 

10 

s 

8 

7 

6 

5 

33 

26 

subsequent  manhood, 

19 

15 

— 

— 

4 

3 

1 

1 

14 

11 

quite  recent  events. 

124 

100 

22 

18 

23 

19 

16 

13 

63 

50 

Totals. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  Table  that  out  of  the  48 
earliest  associations  no  less  than  12,  or  one  quarter 
of  them  occurred  in  each  of  the  four  trials  :  of  the  57 


196  INQUIRIES   INTO    HUMAN   FACULTY. 

associations  first  formed  in  manhood,  10,  or  about 
one-sixth  of  them,  had  a  similar  recurrence,  but  as  to 
the  19  other  associations  first  formed  in  quite  recent 
times,  not  one  of  them  occurred  in  the  whole  of  the 
four  trials.  Hence  we  may  see  the  greater  fixity  of 
the  earlier  associations,  and  might  measurably  deter- 
mine the  decrease  of  fixity  as  the  date  of  their  first 
formation  becomes  less  remote. 

The  largeness  of  the  number  33  in  the  middle  entry 
of  the  last  column  but  one,  which  disconcerts  the  run 
of  the  series,  is  wholly  due  to  a  visual  memory  of 
places  seen  in  manhood.  I  will  not  speak  about  this 
now,  as  I  shall  have  to  refer  to  it  farther  on.  Neglect- 
ing, for  the  moment,  this  unique  class  of  occurrences, 
it  will  be  seen  that  one-half  of  the  associations  date 
from  the  period  of  life  before  leaving  college  ;  and  it 
may  easily  be  imagined  that  many  of  these  refer  to 
common  events  in  an  English  education.  Nay  further, 
on  looking  through  the  list  of  all  the  associations  it 
was  easy  to  see  how  they  are  pervaded  by  purely 
English  ideas,  and  especially  such  as  are  prevalent  in 
that  stratum  of  English  society  in  which  I  was  born 
and  bred,  and  have  subsequently  lived.  In  illustration 
of  this,  I  may  mention  an  anecdote  of  a  matter  which 
greatly  impressed  me  at  the  time.  I  was  staying  in 
a  country  house  with  a  very  pleasant  party  of  young 
and  old,  including  persons  whose  education  and  versa- 
tility were  certainly  not  below  the  social  average.  One 
evening  we  played  at  a  round  game,  which  consisted 
in  each  of  us  drawing  as  absurd  a  scrawl  as  he  or  she 
could,  representing  some  historical  event ;  the  pictures 


PSYCHOMETRIC   EXPERIMENTS.  19V 

were  then  shuffled  and  passed  successively  from  hand 
to  hand,  every  one  writing  down  independently  their 
interpretation  of  the  picture,  as  to  what  the  historical 
event  was  that  the  artist  intended  to  depict  by  the 
scrawl.  I  was  astonished  at  the  sameness  of  our  ideas. 
Cases  like  Canute  and  the  waves,  the  Babes  in  the 
Tower,  and  the  like,  were  drawn  by  two  and  even  three 
persons  at  the  same  time,  quite  independently  of  one 
another,  showing  how  narrowly  we  are  bound  by  the 
fetters  of  our  early  education.  If  the  figures  in  the 
above  Table  may  be  accepted  as  fairly  correct  for  the 
world  generally,  it  shows,  still  in  a  measurable  degree, 
the  large  effect  of  early  education  in  fixing  our  asso- 
ciations. It  will  of  course  be  understood  that  I  make 
no  absurd  profession  of  being  able  by  these  very  few 
experiments  to  lay  down  statistical  constants  of  uni- 
versal application,  but  that  my  principal  object  is  to 
show  that  a  large  class  of  mental  phenomena,  that  have 
hitherto  been  too  vague  to  lay  hold  of,  admit  of  being 
caught  by  the  firm  grip  of  genuine  statistical  inquiry. 

The  results  that  I  have  thus  far  given  are  hotch- 
pot results.  It  is  necessary  to  sort  the  materials 
somewhat  before  saying  more  about  them. 

After  several  trials  I  found  that  the  associated 
ideas  admitted  of  being  divided  into  three  main  groups. 
First  there  is  the  imagined  sound  of  words,  as  in  verbal 
quotations  or  names  of  persons.  This  was  frequently 
a  mere  parrot-like  memory  which  acted  instantaneously 
and  in  a  meaningless  way,  just  as  a  machine  might  act. 
In  the  next  group  there  was  every  other  kind  of  sense 
imagery ;  the  chime  of  imagined  bells,  the  shiver  of 


198  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

remembered  cold,  the  scent  of  some  particular  locality, 
and,  much  more  frequently  than  all  the  rest  put  to- 
gether, visual  imagery.  The  last  of  the  three  groups 
contains  what  I  will  venture,  for  the  want  of  a  better 
name,  to  call  "histrionic"  representations.  It  includes 
those  cases  where  I  either  act  a  part  in  imagination, 
or  see  in  imagination  a  part  acted,  or,  most  commonly 
by  far,  where  I  am  both  spectator  and  all  the  actors 
at  once,  in  an  imaginary  mental  theatre.  Thus  I  feel 
a  nascent  sense  of  some  muscular  action  while  I  simul- 
taneously witness  a  puppet  of  my  brain — a  part  of 
myself — perform  that  action,  and  I  assume  a  mental 
attitude  appropriate  to  the  occasion.  This,  in  my  case, 
is  a  very  frequent  way  of  generalising,  indeed  I  rarely 
feel  that  I  have  secure  hold  of  a  general  idea  until  I 
have  translated  it  somehow  into  this  form.  Thus  the 
word  "  abasement "  presented  itself  to  me,  in  one  of 
my  experiments,  by  my  mentally  placing  myself  in  a 
pantomimic  attitude  of  humiliation  with  half-closed 
eyes,  bowed  head,  and  uplifted  palms,  while  at  the 
same  time  I  was  aware  of  myself  as  of  a  mental  puppet, 
in  that  position.  This  same  word  will  serve  to  illus- 
trate the  other  groups  also.  It  so  happened  in  con- 
nection with  "  abasement "  that  the  word  "  David  "  or 
"  Kino-  David"  occurred  to  me  on  one  occasion  in  each 

o 

of  three  out  of  the  four  trials  ;  also  that  an  accidental 
misreading,  or  perhaps  the  merely  punning  association 
of  the  words  "  a  basement,"  brought  up  on  all  four 
occasions  the  image  of  the  foundations  of  a  house  that 
the  builders  had  begun  upon. 

So  much  for  the   character  of  the    association ; 


PSYCHOMETRIC   EXPERIMENTS. 


199 


next  as  to  that  of  the  words.  I  found,  after  the 
experiments  were  over,  that  the  words  were  divisible 
into  three  distinct  groups.  The  first  contained 
"abbey,"  "aborigines,"  "abyss,"  and  others  that 
admitted  of  being  presented  under  some  mental 
image.  The  second  group  contained  "  abasement," 
"abhorrence,"  "ablution,"  etc.,  which  admitted  ex- 
cellently of  histrionic  representation.  The  third 
group  contained  the  more  abstract  words,  such  as 
"  afternoon,"  "  ability,"  "  abnormal,"  which  were  vari- 
ously and  imperfectly  dealt  with  by  my  mind.  I 
give  the  results  in  the  upper  part  of  Table  III.,  and, 
in  order  to  save  trouble,  I  have  reduced  them  to  per- 
centages in  the  lower  lines  of  the  Table. 


TABLE  IIL 

Comparison  between  the  Quality  of  the  Words  and  that  of  the 
Ideas  in  immediate  association  with  them. 


Number  of 

words  in 

each  series. 

Sense 
imagery. 

Histrionic. 

Purely 
Names  of 
Persons. 

Verbal 
Phrases  and 
Quotations. 

Total. 

26 

"Abbey"     series 

46 

12 

32 

17 

107 

20 

"Abasement"  ,, 

25 

26 

11 

17 

79 

29 

"Afternoon"    ,, 

23 

27 

16 

38 

104 

75 

290 

100 

"Abbey"     series 

43 

11 

30 

16 

"Abasement"  ,, 

32 

33 

13 

22 

100 

"Afternoon"    ,, 

22 

25 

16 

37 

100 

We  see  from  this  that  the   associations   of  the 


200  INQUIKIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

"  abbey "  series  are  nearly  half  of  them  in  sense 
imagery,  and  these  were  almost  always  visual.  The 
names  of  persons  also  more  frequently  occurred  in 
this  series  than  in  any  other.  It  will  be  recollected 
that  in  Table  II.  I  drew  attention  to  the  exceptionally 
large  number,  33,  in  the  last  column.  It  was  per- 
haps 20  in  excess  of  what  would  have  been  expected 
from  the  general  run  of  the  other  figures.  This  was 
wholly  due  to  visual  imagery  of  scenes  wTith  which  I 
was  first  acquainted  after  reaching  manhood,  and 
shows,  I  think,  that  the  scenes  of  childhood  and 
youth,  though  vividly  impressed  on  the  memory,  are 
by  no  means  numerous,  and  may  be  quite  thrown 
into  the  background  by  the  abundance  of  after  ex- 
periences ;  but  this,  as  wTe  have  seen,  is  not  the  case 
with  the  other  forms  of  association.  Verbal  memories 
of  old  date,  such  as  Biblical  scraps,  family  expressions, 
bits  of  poetry,  and  the  like,  are  very  numerous,  and 
rise  to  the  thoughts  so  quickly,  whenever  anything 
suggests  them,  that  they  commonly  outstrip  all  com- 
petitors. Associations  connected  with  the  "  abase- 
ment "  series  are  strongly  characterised  by  histrionic 
ideas,  and  by  sense  imagery,  which  to  a  great  degree 
merges  into  a  histrionic  character.  Thus  the  word 
"  abhorrence "  suggested  to  me,  on  three  out  of  the 
four  trials,  an  image  of  the  attitude  of  Martha  in  the 
famous  picture  of  the  raising  of  Lazarus  by  Sebastian 
del  Piombo  in  the  National  Gallery.  She  stands  with 
averted  head,  doubly  sheltering  her  face  by  her  hands 
from  even  a  sidelong  view  of  the  opened  grave.  Now 
I  could  not  be  sure  how  far  I  saw  the  picture  as  such, 


PSYCHOMETRIC    EXPERIMENTS.  201 

in  my  mental  view,  or  how  far  I  had  thrown  my  own 
personality  into  the  picture,  and  was  acting  it  as 
actors  might  act  a  mystery  play,  by  the  puppets  of 
my  own  brain,  that  were  parts  of  myself.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  I  entered  it  under  the  heading  of 
sense  imagery,  but  it  might  very  properly  have  gone 
to  swell  the  number  of  the  histrionic  entries. 

The  "afternoon"  series  suggested  a  great  pre- 
ponderance of  mere  catch-words,  showing  how  slowly 
I  was  able  to  realise  the  meaning  of  abstractions  ;  the 
phrases  intruded  themselves  before  the  thoughts  be- 
came denned.  It  occasionally  occurred  that  I  puzzled 
wholly  over  a  word,  and  made  no  entry  at  all ;  in 
thirteen  cases  either  this  happened,  or  else  after  one 
idea  had  occurred  the  second  was  too  confused  and 
obscure  to  admit  of  record,  and  mention  of  it  had  to 
be  omitted  in  the  foregoing  Table.  These  entries 
have  forcibly  shown  to  me  the  great  imperfection  in 
my  generalising  powers ;  and  I  am  sure  that  most 
persons  would  find  the  same  if  they  made  similar 
trials.  Nothing  is  a  surer  sign  of  high  intellectual 
capacity  than  the  power  of  quickly  seizing  and  easily 
manipulating  ideas  of  a  very  abstract  nature.  Com- 
monly we  grasp  them  very  imperfectly,  and  cling  to 
their  skirts  with  great  difficulty. 

In  comparing  the  order  in  which  the  ideas  pre- 
sented themselves,  I  find  that  a  decided  precedence  is 
assumed  by  the  histrionic  ideas,  wherever  they  occur ; 
that  verbal  associations  occur  first  and  with  great 
quickness  on  many  occasions,  but  on  the  whole  that 
they  are  only  a  little  more  likely  to  occur  first  than 


202  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN   FACULTY. 

second ;  and  that  imagery  is  decidedly  more  likely 
to  be  the  second  than  the  first  of  the  associations 
called  up  by  a  word.  In  short,  gesture-language 
appeals  the  most  quickly  to  my  feelings. 

It  would  be  very  instructive  to  print  the  actual 
records  at  length,  made  by  many  experimenters,  if 
the  records  could  be  clubbed  together  and  thrown 
into  a  statistical  form ;  but  it  would  be  too  absurd  to 
print  one's  own  singly.  They  lay  bare  the  founda- 
tions of  a  man's  thoughts  with  curious  distinctness, 
and  exhibit  his  mental  anatomy  with  more  vividness 
and  truth  than  he  would  probably  care  to  publish  to 
the  world. 

It  remains  to  summarise  what  has  been  said  in 
the  foregoing  memoir.  I  have  desired  to  show  how 
whole  strata  of  mental  operations  that  have  lapsed 
out  of  ordinary  consciousness,  admit  of  being  dragged 
into  light,  recorded  and  treated  statistically,  and  how 
the  obscurity  that  attends  the  initial  steps  of  our 
thoughts  can  thus  be  pierced  and  dissipated.  I  then 
showed  measurably  the  rate  at  which  associations 
sprung  up,  their  character,  the  date  of  their  first 
formation,  their  tendency  to  recurrence,  and  their 
relative  precedence.  Also  I  gave  an  instance  show- 
ing how  the  phenomenon  of  a  long-forgotten  scene, 
suddenly  starting  into  consciousness,  admitted  in 
many  cases  of  being  explained.  Perhaps  the  strong- 
est of  the  impressions  left  by  these  experiments 
regards  the  multifariousness  of  the  work  done  by 
the  mind  in  a  state  of  half-unconsciousness,  and  the 
valid  reason  they  afford  for  believing  in  the  exist- 


-• 


ANTECHAMBER   OF    CONSCIOUSNESS.  203 

ence  of  still  deeper  strata  of  mental  operations, 
sunk  wholly  below  the  level  of  consciousness,  which  tjL-' 
may  account  for  such  mental  phenomena  as  cannot 
otherwise  be  explained.  We  gain  an  insight  by  -X- 
these  experiments  into  the  marvellous  number  and 
nimbleness  of  our  mental  associations,  and  we  also 
learn  that  they  are  very  far  indeed  from  beiug 
infinite  in  their  variety.  We  find  that  our  working 
stock  of  ideas  is  narrowly  limited  and  that  the  mind 
continually  recurs  to  the  same  instruments  in  con- 
ducting its  operations,  therefore  its  tracks  necessarily 
become  more  defined  and  its  flexibility  diminished  as 
ao-e  advances. 


Antechamber  of  Consciousness. 

When  I  am  engaged  in  trying  to  think  anything 
out,  the  process  of  doing  so  appears  to  me  to  be  this : 
The  ideas  that  lie  at  any  moment  within  my  full 
consciousness  seem  to  attract  of  their  own  accord 
the  most  appropriate  out  of  a  number  of  other  ideas 
that  are  lying  close  at  hand,  but  imperfectly  within 
the  range  of  my  consciousness.  There  seems  to  be 
a  presence-chamber  in  my  mind  where  full  conscious- 
ness holds  court,  and  where  two  or  three  ideas  are 
at  the  same  time  in  audience,  and  an  antechamber 
full  of  more  or  less  allied  ideas,  which  is  situated  just 
beyond  the  full  ken  of  consciousness.  Out  of  this 
antechamber  the  ideas  most  nearly  allied  to  those  in 
the  presence-chamber  appear  to  be  summoned  in  a 


< 


204  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN    FACULTY. 

mechanically  logical  way,  and  to  have  their  turn  of 
audience. 

The  successful  progress  of  thought  appears  to 
depend — first,  on  a  large  attendance  in  the  ante- 
chamber ;  secondly,  on  the  presence  there  of  no  ideas 
except  such  as  are  strictly  germane  to  the  topic 
under  consideration ;  thirdly,  on  the  justness  of  the 
logical  mechanism  that  issues  the  summons.  The 
thronging  of  the  antechamber  is,  I  am  convinced, 
altogether  beyond  my  control ;  if  the  ideas  do  not 
appear,  I  cannot  create  them,  nor  compel  them  to 
come.  The  exclusion  of  alien  ideas  is  accompanied 
by  a  sense  of  mental  effort  and  volition  whenever 
the  topic  under  consideration  is  unattractive,  other- 
wise it  proceeds  automatically,  for  if  an  intruding 
idea  finds  nothing  to  cling  to,  it  is  unable  to  hold 
its  place  in  the  antechamber,  and  slides  back  again. 
An  animal  absorbed  in  a  favourite  occupation  shows 
no  sign  of  painful  effort  of  attention  ;  on  the  contrary, 
he  resents  interruption  that  solicits  his  attention 
elsewhere. 

The  consequence  of  all  this  is  that  the  mind 
frequently  does  good  work  without  the  slightest 
exertion.  In  composition  it  will  often  produce  a 
better  effect  than  if  it  acted  with  effort,  because  the 
essence  of  good  composition  is  that  the  ideas  should 
be  connected  by  the  easiest  possible  transitions. 
When  a  man  has  been  thinking  hard  and  long  upon 
a  subject,  he  becomes  temporarily  familiar  with 
certain  steps  of  thought,  certain  short  cuts,  and 
certain   far-fetched   associations,  that    do    not   com- 


ANTECHAMBER    OF    CONSCIOUSNESS.  205 

mend  themselves  to  the  minds  of  other  persons,  nor 
indeed  to  his  own  at  other  times ;  therefore,  it  is 
better  that  his  transitory  familiarity  with  them 
should  have  come  to  an  end  before  he  begins  to 
write  or  speak.  When  he  returns  to  the  work  after 
a  sufficient  pause  he  is  conscious  that  his  ideas  have 
settled ;  that  is,  they  have  lost  their  adventitious 
relations  to  one  another,  and  stand  in  those  in  which 
they  are  likely  to  reside  permanently  in  his  own 
mind,  and  to  exist  in  the  minds  of  others. 

Although  the  brain  is  able  to  do  very  fair  work 
fluently  in  an  automatic  way,  and  though  it  will  of 
its  own  accord  strike  out  sudden  and  happy  ideas,  it 
is  questionable  if  it  is  capable  of  working  thoroughly 
and  profoundly  without  past  or  present  effort.  The 
character  of  this  effort  seems  to  me  chiefly  to  lie 
in  brino-ino'  the  contents  of  the  antechamber  more 
nearly  within  the  ken  of  consciousness,  which  then 
takes  comprehensive  note  of  all  its  contents,  and 
compels  the  logical  faculty  to  test  them  seriatum 
before  selecting  the  fittest  for  a  summons  to  the 
presence-chamber. 

Extreme  fluency  and  a  vivid  and  rapid  imagina- 
tion are  gifts  naturally  and  healthfully  possessed  by 
those  wrho  rise  to  be  great  orators  or  literary  men, 
for  they  could  not  have  become  successful  in  those 
careers  without  it.  The  curious  fact  already  alluded 
to  of  five  editors  of  newspapers  being  known  to  me  as 
having  phantasmagoria,  points  to  a  connection  between 
two  forms  of  fluency,  the  literary  and  the  visual. 
Fluency  may  be  also  a  morbid  faculty,  being  markedly 


206  INQUIRIES   INTO    HUMAN   FACULTY. 

increased  by  alcohol  (as  poets  are  never  tired  of 
telling  us),  and  by  various  drugs  ;  and  it  exists  in 
delirium,  insanity,  and  states  of  high  emotions.  The 
fluency  of  a  vulgar  scold  is  extraordinary. 

In  preparing  to  write  or  speak  upon  a  subject  of 
which  the  details  have  been  mastered,  I  gather,  after 
some  inquiry,  that  the  usual  method  among  persons 
who  have  the  gift  of  fluency  is  to  think  cursorily  on 
topics  connected  with  it,  until  what  I  have  called  the 
antechamber  is  well  filled  with  cognate  ideas.  Then, 
to  allow  the  ideas  to  link  themselves  in  their  own  way, 
breaking  the  linkage  continually  and  recommencing 
afresh  until  some  line  of  thought  has  suggested  itself 
that  appears  from  a  rapid  and  light  glance  to  thread 
the  chief  topics  together.  After  this  the  connections 
are  brought  step  by  step  fully  into  consciousness, 
they  are  short-circuited  here  and  extended  there, 
as  found  advisable,  until  a  firm  connection  is  found 
to  be  established  between  all  parts  of  the  subject. 
After  this  is  done  the  mental  effort  is  over,  and  the 
composition  may  proceed  fluently  in  an  automatic 
way.  Though  this,  I  believe,  is  a  usual  way,  it  is 
by  no  means  universal,  for  there  are  very  great 
differences  in  the  conditions  under  which  different 
persons  compose  most  readily.  They  seem  to  afford 
as  good  evidence  of  the  variety  of  mental  and  bodily 
constitutions  as  can  be  met  with  in  any  other  line  of 
inquiry. 

It  is  very  reasonable  to  think  that  part  at  least 
of  the  inward  response  to  spiritual  yearnings  is  of 
similar  origin  to  the  visions,  thoughts,   and   phrases 


ANTECHAMBER    OF    CONSCIOUSNESS.  207 

that  arise  automatically  when  the  mind  has  prepared 
itself  to  receive  them.  The  devout  man  attunes  his 
mind  to  holy  ideas,  he  excludes  alien  thoughts,  and  he 
waits  and  watches  in  stillness.  Gradually  the  dark- 
ness is  lifted,  the  silence  of  the  mind  is  broken,  and 
the  spiritual  responses  are  heard  in  the  way  so  often 
described  by  devout  men  of  all  religions.  This 
seems  to  me  precisely  analogous  to  the  automatic 
presentation  of  ordinary  ideas  to  orators  and  literary 
men,  and  to  the  visions  of  which  I  spoke  in  the 
chapter  on  that  subject.  Dividuality  replaces  indi- 
viduality, and  one  portion  of  the  mind  communicates 
with  another  portion  as  with  a  different  person. 

Some  persons  and  races  are  naturally  more  im- 
aginative than  others,  and  show  their  visionary  tend- 
ency in  every  one  of  the  respects  named.  They  are 
fanciful,  oratorical,  poetical,  and  credulous.  The 
"  enthusiastic "  faculties  all  seem  to  hansf  together : 
I  shall  recur  to  this  in  the  chapter  on  enthusiasm. 

I  have  already  pointed  out  the  existence  of  a  mor- 
bid form  of  piety,  there  is  also  a  morbid  condition  of 
apparent  inspiration  to  which  imaginative  women  are 
subject,  especially  those  who  suffer  more  or  less  from 
hysteria.  It  is  accompanied  in  a  very  curious  way, 
familiar  to  medical  men,  by  almost  incredible  acts  of 
deceit.  It  is  found  even  in  ladies  of  position  appar- 
ently above  the  suspicion  of  vulgar  fraud,  and  seems 
associated  with  a  strange  secret  desire  to  attract 
notice.  Ecstatics,  seers  of  visions,  and  devout  fast- 
ing girls  who  eat  on  the  sly,  often  belong  to  this 
category. 


208  INQUIRIES   INTO    HUMAN   FACULTY. 


Early  Sentiments. 

The  child  is  passionately  attached  to  his  home, 
then  to  his  school,  his  country,  and  religion ;  yet  how 
entirely  the  particular  home,  school,  country,  and 
religion  are  a  matter  of  accident !  He  is  born  pre- 
pared to  attach  himself  as  a  climbing  plant  is  natur- 
ally disposed  to  climb,  the  kind  of  stick  being  of  little 
importance.  The  models  upon  whom  the  child  or  boy 
forms  himself  are  the  boys  or  men  whom  he  has  been 
thrown  amongst,  and  whom  from  some  incidental 
cause  he  may  have  learned  to  love  and  respect.  The 
every -day  utterances,  the  likes  and  dislikes  of  his 
parents,  their  social  and  caste  feelings,  their  religious 
persuasions  are  absorbed  by  him  ;  their  views  or  those 
of  his  teachers  become  assimilated  and  made  his  own. 
If  a  mixed  marriage  should  have  taken  place,  and 
the  father  should  die  while  the  children  are  yet  young, 
and  if  a  question  arise  between  the  executors  of  his 
will  and  the  mother  as  to  the  religious  education  of 
the  children,  application  is  made  as  a  matter  of 
course  to  the  Court  of  Chancery,  who  decide  that 
the  children  shall  be  brought  up  as  Protestants  or  as 
Catholics  as  the  case  may  be,  or  the  sons  one  way  and 
the  daughters  the  other ;  and  they  are,  and  usually 
remain  so  afterwards  when  free  to  act  for  themselves. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  many  of  the  deaf-mutes 
who  are  first  taught  to  communicate  freely  with 
others  after  they  had  passed  the  period  of  boyhood, 
and  are  asked  about  their  religious  feelings  up  to  that 


EARLY    SENTIMENTS.  209 

time,  are  reported  to  tell  the  same  story.  They  say 
that  the  meaning  of  the  church  service  whither  they 
had  accompanied  their  parents,  and  of  the  kneeling 
to  pray,  had  been  absolutely  unintelligible,  and  a 
standing  puzzle  to  them.  The  ritual  touched  no 
chord  in  their  untaught  natures  that  responded  in 
unison.  Very  much  of  what  we  fondly  look  upon  as 
a  natural  religious  sentiment  is  purely  traditional. 

The  word  religion  may  fairly  be  applied  to  any 
group  of  sentiments  or  persuasions  that  are  strong 
enough  to  bind  us  to  do  that  which  we  intellectually 
may  acknowledge  to  be  our  duty,  and  the  possession 
of  some  form  of  religion  in  this  larger  sense  of  the 
word  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  moral  stability. 
The  sentiments  must  be  strong  enough  to  make  us 
ashamed  at  the  mere  thought  of  committing,  and  dis- 
tressed during  the  act  of  committing  any  untruth,  or 
any  uncharitable  act,  or  of  neglecting  what  we  feel  to 
be  right,  in  order  to  indulge  in  laziness  or  gratify 
some  passing  desire.  So  long  as  experience  shows 
the  religion  to  be  competent  to  produce  this  effect, 
it  seems  reasonable  to  believe  that  the  particular 
dogma  is  comparatively  of  little  importance.  But  as 
the  dogma  or  sentiments,  whatever  they  be,  if  they 
are  not  naturally  instinctive,  must  be  ingrained  in 
the  character  to  produce  their  full  effect,  they  should 
be  instilled  early  in  life  and  allowed  to  grow  un- 
shaken until  their  roots  are  firmly  fixed.  The  con- 
sciousness of  this  fact  makes  the  form  of  religious 
teaching  in  every  church  and  creed  identical  in 
one  important  particular  though   its    substance  may 

p 


210  INQUIRIES   INTO  HUMAN   FACULTY. 

vary  in  every  respect.  In  subjects  unconnected  with 
sentiment,  the  freest  inquiry  and  the  fullest  deli- 
beration are  required  before  it  is  thought  decorous 
to  form  a  final  opinion ;  but  wherever  sentiment 
is  involved,  and  especially  in  questions  of  reli- 
gious dogma,  about  which  there  is  more  sentiment 
and  more  difference  of  opinion  among  wise,  virtuous, 
and  truth-seeking  men  than  about  any  other  subject 
whatever,  free  inquiry  is  peremptorily  discouraged. 
The  religious  instructor  in  every  creed  is  one  who 
makes  it  his  profession  to  saturate  his  pupils  with 
prejudice.  A  vast  and  perpetual  clamour  arises  from 
the  pulpits  of  endless  proselytising  sects  throughout 
this  great  empire,  the  priests  of  all  of  them  crying 
with  one  consent,  "  This  is  the  way,  shut  your  ears  to 
the  words  of  those  who  teach  differently  ;  don't  look 
at  their  books,  do  not  even  mention  their  names  ex- 
cept to  scoff  at  them  ;  they  are  damnable.  Have  faith 
in  what  I  tell  you,  and  save  your  souls  !"  In  which 
of  these  conflicting  doctrines  are  we  to  place  our  faith 
if  we  are  not  to  hear  all  sides,  and  to  rely  upon  our 
own  judgment  in  the  end  ?  Are  we  to  understand 
that  it  is  the  duty  of  man  to  be  credulous  in  accept- 
ing whatever  the  priest  in  whose  neighbourhood  he 
happens  to  reside  may  say  ?  Is  it  to  believe  whatever 
his  parents  may  have  lovingly  taught  him  ?  There 
are  a  vast  number  of  foolish  men  and  women  in  the 
world  who  marry  and  have  children,  and  because 
they  deal  lovingly  with  their  children  it  does  not  at 
all  follow  that  they  can  instruct  them  wisely.  Or  is 
it  to  have  faith  in  what  the  wisest  men  of  all  ao-es  have 


EARLY   SENTIMENTS.  211 

found  peace  in  believing?  The  Catholic  phrase, 
"  qaod  semper  quod  ubique  quod  omnibus" — "that 
which  has  been  believed  at  all  times,  in  all  places, 
and  by  all  men  " — has  indeed  a  fine  rolling  sound,  but 
where  is  the  dogma  that  satisfies  its  requirements  ? 
Or  is  it,  such  and  such  really  good  and  wise  men  with 
whom  you  are  acquainted,  and  whom,  it  may  be,  you 
have  the  privilege  of  knowing,  have  lived  consistent 
lives  through  the  guidance  of  these  dogmas,  how  can 
you  who  are  many  grades  their  inferior  in  good  works, 
in  capacity  and  in  experience,  presume  to  set  up  your 
opinion  against  theirs  ?  The  reply  is,  that  it  is  a 
matter  of  history  and  notoriety  that  other  very  good, 
capable,  and  experienced  men  have  led  and  are  lead- 
ing consistent  lives  under  the  guidance  of  totally 
different  dogmas,  and  that  some  of  them  a  few  genera- 
tions back  would  have  probably  burned  your  modern 
hero  as  a  heretic  if  he  had  lived  in  their  times  and 
they  could  have  got  hold  of  him.  Also,  that  men, 
however  eminent  in  goodness,  intellect,  and  experi- 
ence, may  be  deeply  prejudiced,  and  that  their  judg- 
ment in  matters  where  their  prejudices  are  involved 
cannot  thenceforward  be.  trusted.  Watches,  as  elec- 
tricians know  to  their  cost,  are  liable  to  have  their 
steel  work  accidentally  magnetised,  and  the  best 
chronometer  under  those  conditions  can  never  again 
be  trusted  to  keep  correct  time. 

Lastly,  are  we  told  to  have  faith  in  our  conscience  ? 
well,  we  know  now  a  great  deal  more  about  conscience 
than  formerly.  Ethnologists  have  studied  the  mani- 
festations of  conscience  in  different  people,  and  do  not 


212  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN   FACULTY. 

find  that  they  are  consistent.      Conscience  is  now 

known  to  be  partly  transmitted  by  inheritance  in  the 

way  and  under  the  conditions  clearly  explained  by 

Mr.  Darwin,  and  partly  to  be  an  unsuspected  result  of 

early  education.      The  value  of  inherited  conscience 

lies  in  its  being  the  organised  result  of  the  social  ex- 
es o 

periences  of  many  generations,  but  it  fails  in  so  far  as 
it  expresses  the  experience  of  generations  whose  habits 
differed  from  our  own.  The  doctrine  of  evolution 
shows  that  no  race  can  be  in  perfect  harmony  with  its 
surroundings ;  the  latter  are  continually  changing, 
while  the  organism  of  the  race  hobbles  after,  vainly 
trying  to  overtake  them,  Therefore  the  inherited 
part  of  conscience  cannot  be  an  infallible  guide,  and 
the  acquired  part  of  it  may,  under  the  influence  of 
dogma,  be  a  very  bad  one.  The  history  of  fanaticism 
shows  too  clearly  that  this  is  not  only  a  theory 
but  a  fact.  Happy  the  child,  especially  in  these  in- 
quiring days,  who  has  been  taught  a  religion  that 
mainly  rests  on  the  moral  obligations  between  man 
and  man  in  domestic  and  national  life,  and  which,  so 
far  as  it  is  necessarily  dogmatic,  rests  chiefly  upon  the 
proper  interpretation  of  facts  about  which  there  is  no 
dispute, — namely,  on  those  habitual  occurrences  which 
are  always  open  to  observation,  and  which  form  the 
basis  of  so-called  natural  religion. 

It  would  be  instructive  to  make  a  study  of  the 
working  religion  of  good  and  able  men  of  all  nations, 
in  order  to  discover  the  real  motives  by  which  they 
were  severally  animated, — men,  I  mean,  who  had  been 


EARLY    SENTIMENTS.  213 

tried  by  both  prosperity  and  adversity,  and  had  borne 
the  test ;  who,  while  they  led  lives  full  of  interest 
to  themselves,  were  beloved  by  their  own  family, 
noted  among  those  with  whom  they  had  business 
relations  for  their  probity  and  conciliatory  ways,  and 
honoured  by  a  wider  circle  for  their  unselfish  further- 
ance of  the  public  good.  Such  men  exist  of  many 
faiths  and  in  many  races. 

Another  interesting  and  cognate  inquiry  would  be 
into  the  motives  that  have  sufficed  to  induce  men  who 
were  leading  happy  lives,  to  meet  death  willingly  at  a 
time  when  they  were  not  particularly  excited.  Prob- 
ably the  number  of  instances  to  be  found,  say  among 
Mussulmans,  who  are  firm  believers  in  the  joys  of 
Mahomet's  Paradise,  would  not  be  more  numerous 
than  among  the  Zulus,  who  have  no  belief  in  any 
paradise  at  all,  but  are  influenced  by  martial  honour 
and  patriotism.  There  is  an  Oriental  phrase,  as  I 
have  been  told,  that  the  fear  of  the  inevitable  approach 
of  death  is  a  European  malady. 

Terror  at  any  object  is  quickly  taught  if  it  is 
taught  consistently,  whether  the  terror  be  reasonable 
or  not.  There  are  few  more  stupid  creatures  than 
fish,  but  they  notoriously  soon  learn  to  be  frightened 
at  any  newly-introduced  method  of  capture,  say  by 
an  artificial  fly,  which,  at  first  their  comrades  took 
greedily.  Some  one  fish  may  have  seen  others 
caught,  and  have  learned  to  take  fright  at  the  fly. 
Whenever  he  saw  it  again  he  would  betray  his  terror 
by  some  instinctive  gesture,  which  would  be  seen  and 


214  INQUIRIES    INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

understood  by  others,  and  so  instruction  in  distrusting 
the  fly  appears  to  spread. 

All  gregarious  animals  are  extremely  quick  at 
learning  terrors  from  one  another.  It  is  a  condition 
of  their  existence  that  they  should  do  so,  as  was  ex- 
plained at  length  in  a  previous  chapter.  Their  safety 
lies  in  mutual  intelligence  and  support.  When  most 
of  them  are  browsing  a  few  are  always  watching, 
and  at  the  least  signal  of  alarm  the  whole  herd 
takes  fright  simultaneously.  Gregarious  animals  are 
quickly  alive  to  their  mutual  signals  ;  it  is  beauti- 
ful to  watch  great  flocks  of  birds  as  they  wheel  in 
their  flight  and  suddenly  show  the  flash  of  all  their 
wings  against  the  sky,  as  they  simultaneously  and 
suddenly  change  their  direction. 

Much  of  the  tameness  or  wildness  of  an  animal's 
character  is  probably  due  to  the  placidity  or  to  the 
frequent  starts  of  alarm  of  the  mother  while  she  was 
rearing  it.  I  was  greatly  struck  with  some  evidence 
I  happened  to  meet  with,  of  the  pervading  atmo- 
sphere of  alarm  and  suspicion  in  which  the  children 
of  criminal  parents  are  brought  up,  and  which,  in 
combination  with  their  inherited  disposition,  makes 
them,  in  the  opinion  of  many  observers,  so  different 
to  other  children.  The  evidence  of  which  I  speak  lay 
in  the  tone  of  letters  sent  by  criminal  parents  to 
their  children,  who  were  inmates  of  the  Princess 
Mary  Village  Homes,  from  which  I  had  the  oppor- 
tunity, thanks  to  the  kindness  of  the  Superintendent, 
Mrs.  Meredith,  of  hearing  and  seeing  extracts.  They 
were  full  of  such  phrases  as  "  Mind  you  do  not  say 


EARLY   SENTIMENTS.  215 

anything  about  this,"  though  the  matters  referred  to 
were,  to  all  appearance,  unimportant. 

The  writings  of  Dante  on  the  horrible  torments  of 
the  damned,  and  the  realistic  pictures  of  the  same 
subject  in  frescoes  and  other  pictures  of  the  same 
date,  showing  the  flames  and  the  flesh  hooks  and  the 
harrows,  indicate  the  transforming  effect  of  those  cruel 
times,  fifteen  generations  ago,  upon  the  disposition  of 
men.  Eevenge  and  torture  had  been  so  commonly 
practised  by  rulers  that  they  seemed  to  be  appropriate 
attributes  of  every  high  authority,  and  the  artists  of 
those  days  saw  no  incongruity  in  supposing  that  a 
supremely  powerful  master,  however  beneficent  he 
might  be,  would  make  the  freest  use  of  them. 

Aversion  is  taught  as  easily  as  terror,  when  the 
object  of  it  is  neutral  and  not  especially  attractive  to 
an  unprejudiced  taste.  I  can  testify  in  my  own 
person  to  the  somewhat  rapidly-acquired  and  long- 
retained  fancies  concerning  the  clean  and  unclean, 
upon  which  Jews  and  Mussulmans  lay  such  curious 
stress.  It  was  the  result  of  my  happening  to  spend 
a  year  in  the  East,  at  an  age  when  the  brain  is  very 
receptive  of  new  ideas,  and  when  I  happened  to  be 
much  impressed  by  the  nobler  aspects  of  Mussulman 
civilisation,  especially,  I  may  say,  with  the  manly 
conformity  of  their  every-day  practice  to  their  creed, 
which  contrasts  sharply  with  what  we  see  among 
most  Europeans,  who  profess  extreme  unworldliness 
and  humiliation  on  one  day  of  the  week,  and  act  in 


216  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

a  worldly  and  masterful  manner  during  the  remaining 
six.  Although  many  years  have  passed  since  that 
time,  I  still  find  the  old  feelings  in  existence — for 
instance,  that  of  looking  on  the  left  hand  as  unclean. 
It  is  difficult  to  an  untravelled  Englishman,  who 
has  not  had  an  opportunity  of  throwing  himself  into 
the  spirit  of  the  East,  to  credit  the  disgust  and 
detestation  that  numerous  every -day  acts,  which 
appear  perfectly  harmless  to  his  countrymen,  excite 
in  many  Orientals. 

To  conclude,  the  power  of  nurture  is  very  great 
in  implanting  sentiments  of  a  religious  nature,  of 
terror  and  of  aversion,  and  in  giving  a  fallacious 
sense  of  their  beiug  natural  instincts.  But  it  will  be 
observed  that  the  circumstances  from  which  these 
influences  proceed,  affect  large  classes  simultaneously, 
forming  a  kind  of  atmosphere  in  which  every  mem- 
ber of  them  passes  his  life.  They  produce  the  cast 
of  mind  that  distinguishes  an  Englishman  from  a 
foreigner  and  one  class  of  Englishmen  from  another, 
but  they  have  little  influence  in  creating  the  differ- 
ences that  exist  between  individuals  of  the  same  class. 


History  of  Twins. 

The  exceedingly  close  resemblance  attributed  to 
twins  has  been  the  subject  of  many  novels  and  plays, 
and  most  persons  have  felt  a  desire  to  know  upon 
what  basis  of  truth  those  works  of  fiction  may  rest. 


HISTORY    OF   TWINS.  217 

But  twins  have  a  special  claim  upon  our  attention  ; 
it  is,  that  their  history  affords  means  of  distinguish- 
ing between  the  effects  of  tendencies  received  at 
birth,  and  of  those  that  were  imposed  by  the  special 
circumstances  of  their  after  lives.  The  objection 
to  statistical  evidence  in  proof  of  the  inheritance  of 
peculiar  faculties  has  always  been :  "  The  persons 
whom  you  compare  may  have  lived  under  similar 
social  conditions  and  have  had  similar  advantages  of 
education,  but  such  prominent  conditions  are  only 
a  small  part  of  those  that  determine  the  future  of 
each  man's  life.  It  is  to  trifling  accidental  circum- 
stances that  the  bent  of  his  disposition  and  his 
success  are  mainly  due,  and  these  you  leave  wholly 
out  of  account — in  fact,  they  do  not  admit  of  being 
tabulated,  and  therefore  your  statistics,  however 
plausible  at  first  sight,  are  really  of  very  little  use." 
No  method  of  inquiry  which  I  had  previously  been 
able  to  carry  out — and  I  have  tried  many  methods — 
is  wholly  free  from  this  objection.  I  have  therefore 
attacked  the  problem  from  the  opposite  side,  seeking 
for  some  new  method  by  which  it  would  be  possible 
to  weigh  in  just  scales  the  effects  of  Nature  and 
Nurture,  and  to  ascertain  their  respective  shares  in 
framing  the  disposition  and  intellectual  ability  of 
men.  The  life-history  of  twins  supplies  what  I 
wanted.  We  may  begin  by  inquiring  about  twins 
who  were  closely  alike  in  boyhood  and  youth,  and 
who  were  educated  together  for  many  years,  and 
learn  whether  they  subsequently  grew  unlike,  and,  if 
so,  what  the  main  causes  were  which,  in  the  opinion 


218  INQUIRIES    INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

of  the  family,  produced  the  dissimilarity.  In  this 
way  we  can  obtain  direct  evidence  of  the  kind  we 
want.  Again,  we  may  obtain  yet  more  valuable 
evidence  by  a  converse  method.  We  can  inquire 
into  the  history  of  twins  who  were  exceedingly  un- 
like in  childhood,  and  learn  how  far  their  characters 
became  assimilated  under  the  influence  of  identical 
nurture,  inasmuch  as  they  had  the  same  home,  the 
same  teachers,  the  same  associates,  and  in  every  other 
respect  the  same  surroundings. 

My  materials  were  obtained  by  sending  circulars 
of  inquiry  to  persons  who  were  either  twins  them- 
selves or  near  relations  of  twins.  The  printed 
questions  were  in  thirteen  groups ;  the  last  of  them 
asked  for  the  addresses  of  other  twins  known  to  the 
recipient,  who  might  be  likely  to  respond  if  I  wrote 
to  them.  This  happily  led  to  a  continually  widen- 
ing circle  of  correspondence,  which  I  pursued  until 
enough  material  was  accumulated  for  a  general  recon- 
naisance  of  the  subject. 

There  is  a  large  literature  relating  to  twins  in 
their  purely  surgical  and  physiological  aspect.  The 
reader  interested  in  this  should  consult  Die  Lehre  von 
den  Zwillingen,  von  L.  Kleinwachter,  Prag.  1871.  It 
is  full  of  references,  but  it  is  also  unhappily  disfigured 
by  a  number  of  numerical  misprints,  especially  in 
page  26.  I  have  not  found  any  book  that  treats  of 
twins  from  my  present  point  of  view. 

The  reader  will  easily  understand  that  the  word 
"  twins "  is  a  vague  expression,  which  covers  two 
very  dissimilar  events — the  one  corresponding  to  the 


HISTORY   OF   TWINS.  219 

progeny  of  animals  that  usually  bear  more  than  one 
at  a  birth,  each  of  the  progeny  being  derived  from  a 
separate  ovum,  while  the  other  event  is  due  to  the 
development  of  two  germinal  spots  in  the  same 
ovum.  In  the  latter  case  they  are  enveloped  in  the 
same  membrane,  and  all  such  twins  are  found  invari- 
ably to  be  of  the  same  sex.  The  consequence  of  this 
is,  that  I  find  a  curious  discontinuity  in  my  results. 
One  would  have  expected  that  twins  would  commonly 
be  found  to  possess  a  certain  average  likeness  to  one 
another ;  that  a  few  would  greatly  exceed  that 
average  likeness,  and  a  few  would  greatly  fall  short 
of  it.  But  this  is  not  at  all  the  case.  Extreme 
similarity  and  extreme  dissimilarity  between  twins 
of  the  same  sex  are  nearly  as  common  as  moderate 
resemblance.  "When  the  twins  are  a  boy  and  a  girl, 
they  are  never  closely  alike ;  in  fact,  their  origin  is 
never  due  to  the  development  of  two  germinal  spots 
in  the  same  ovum. 

I  received  about  eighty  returns  of  cases  of  close 
similarity,  thirty-five  of  which  entered  into  many 
instructive  details.  In  a  few  of  these  not  a  single 
point  of  difference  could  be  specified.  In  the  remain- 
der, the  colour  of  the  hair  and  eyes  were  almost 
always  identical ;  the  height,  weight,  and  strength 
were  nearly  so.  Nevertheless,  I  have  a  few  cases  of 
a  notable  difference  in  height,  weight,  and  strength, 
although  the  resemblance  was  otherwise  very  near. 
The  manner  and  personal  address  of  the  thirty-five 
pairs  of  twins  are  usually  described  as  very  similar,  but 
accompanied  by  a  slight  difference  of  expression,  fami- 


220  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

liar  to  near  relatives,  though  unperceived  by  strangers. 
The  intonation  of  the  voice  when  speaking  is  com- 
monly the  same,  but  it  frequently  happens  that  the 
twins  sing  in  different  keys.  Most  singularly,  the  one 
point  in  which  similarity  is  rare  is  the  handwriting. 
I  cannot  account  for  this,  considering  how  strongly 
handwriting  runs  in  families,  but  I  am  sure  of  the 
fact.  I  have  only  one  case  in  which  nobody,  not 
even  the  twins  themselves,  could  distinguish  their 
own  notes  of  lectures,  etc. ;  barely  two  or  three  in 
which  the  handwriting  was  un distinguishable  by 
others,  and  only  a  few  in  which  it  was  described  as 
closely  alike.  On  the  other  hand,  I  have  many  in 
which  it  is  stated  to  be  unlike,  and  some  in  which 
it  is  alluded  to  as  the  only  point  of  difference.  It 
would  appear  that  the  handwriting  is  a  very  delicate 
test  of  difference  in  organisation — a  conclusion  which 
I  commend  to  the  notice  of  enthusiasts  in  the  art  of 
discovering  character  by  the  handwriting. 

One  of  my  inquiries  was  for  anecdotes  regard- 
ing mistakes  made  between  the  twins  by  their  near 
relatives.  The  replies  are  numerous,  but  not  very 
varied  in  character.  When  the  twins  are  children, 
they  are  usually  distinguished  by  ribbons  tied  round 
the  wrist  or  neck ;  nevertheless  the  one  is  sometimes 
fed,  physicked,  and  whipped  by  mistake  for  the  other, 
and  the  description  of  these  little  domestic  catas- 
trophes was  usually  given  by  the  mother,  in  a 
phraseology  that  is  somewhat  touching  by  reason  of 
its  seriousness.  I  have  one  case  in  which  a  doubt 
remains  whether  the  children  were  not  changed  in 


HISTORY    OF   TWINS.  221 

their  bath,  and  the  presumed  A  is  not  really  B,  and 
vice  versd.  In  another  case,  an  artist  was  engaged 
on  the  portraits  of  twins  who  were  between  three  and 
four  years  of  age ;  he  had  to  lay  aside  his  work  for 
three  weeks,  and,  on  resuming  it,  could  not  tell  to 
which  child  the  respective  likenesses  he  had  in  hand 
belonged.  The  mistakes  become  less  numerous  on 
the  part  of  the  mother  during  the  boyhood  and  girl- 
hood of  the  twins,  but  are  almost  as  frequent  as  before 
on  the  part  of  strangers.  I  have  many  instances  of 
tutors  being  unable  to  distinguish  their  twin  pupils. 
Two  girls  used  regularly  to  impose  on  their  music 
teacher  when  one  of  them  wanted  a  whole  holiday ; 
they  had  their  lessons  at  separate  hours,  and  the  one 
girl  sacrificed  herself  to  receive  two  lessons  on  the 
same  day,  while  the  other  one  enjoyed  herself  from 
morning  to  evening.  Here  is  a  brief  and  comprehen- 
sive account : — 

"Exactly  alike  in  all,  their  schoolmasters  never  could  tell 
them  apart ;  at  dancing  parties  they  constantly  changed  partners 
without  discovery ;  their  close  resemblance  is  scarcely  diminished 
by  age." 

The  following  is  a  typical  schoolboy  anecdote  : — 

"  Two  twins  were  fond  of  playing  tricks,  and  complaints  were 
frequently  made  ;  but  the  boys  would  never  own  which  was  the 
guilty  one,  and  the  complainants  were  never  certain  which  of  the 
two  he  was.  One  head  master  used  to  say  he  would  never  flog 
the  innocent  for  the  guilty,  and  another  used  to  flog  both." 

No  less  than  nine  anecdotes  have  reached  me  of  a 
twin  seeing  his  or  her  reflection  in  a  looking-glass, 
and  addressing  it  in  the  belief  it  was  the  other  twin 
in  person. 


222  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

I  have  many  anecdotes  of  mistakes  when  the 
twins  were  nearly  grown  up.     Thus : — 

"  Amusing  scenes  occurred  at  college  when  one  twin  came 
to  visit  the  other ;  the  porter  on  one  occasion  refusing  to  let  the 
visitor  out  of  the  college  gates,  for,  though  they  stood  side  by- 
side,  he  professed  ignorance  as  to  which  he  ought  to  allow  to 
depart." 

Children  are  usually  quick  in  distinguishing 
between  their  parent  and  his  or  her  twin ;  but  I 
have  two  cases  to  the  contrary.  Thus,  the  daughter 
of  a  twin  says : — 

"  Such  was  the  marvellous  similarity  of  their  features,  voice, 
manner,  etc.,  that  I  remember,  as  a  child,  being  very  much 
puzzled,  and  I  think,  had  my  aunt  lived  much  with  us,  I  should 
have  ended  by  thinking  I  had  two  mothers." 

In  the  other  case,  a  father  who  was  a  twin,  re- 
marks of  himself  and  his  brother  : — 

"  AVe  were  extremely  alike,  and  are  so  at  this  moment,  so 
much  so  that  our  children  up  to  five  and  six  years  old  did  not 
know  us  apart." 

I  have  four  or  five  instances  of  doubt  during  an 
engagement  of  marriage.     Thus  : — 

"  A  married  first,  but  both  twins  met  the  lady  together  for 
the  first  time,  and  fell  in  love  with  her  there  and  then.  A 
managed  to  see  her  home  and  to  gain  her  affection,  though  B 
went  sometimes  courting  in  his  place,  and  neither  the  lady  nor 
her  parents  could  tell  which  was  which." 

I  have  also  a  German  letter,  written  in  quaint 
terms,  about  twin  brothers  who  married  sisters, 
but    could   not    easily    be    distinguished    by    them.1 

1  I  take  this  opportunity  of  withdrawing  an  anecdote,  happily  of 
no  great  importance,  published  in  Men  of  Science,  p.  14,  about  a  man 


HISTORY   OF   TWINS.  223 

In  the  well-known  novel  by  Mr.  Wilkie  Collins 
of  Poor  Miss  Finch,  the  blind  oirl  distinguishes 
the  twin  she  loves  by  the  touch  of  his  hand,  which  t  . 
gives  her  a  thrill  that  the  touch  of  the  other 
brother  does  not.  Philosophers  have  not,  I  believe, 
as  yet  investigated  the  conditions  of  such  thrills  ;  but 
I  have  a  case  in  which  Miss  Finch's  test  would  have 
failed.  Two  persons,  both  friends  of  a  certain  twin 
lady,  told  me  that  she  had  frequently  remarked  to 
them  that  "  kissing  her  twin  sister  was  not  like 
kissing  her  other  sisters,  but  like  kissing  herself — her 
own  hand,  for  example." 

It  would  be  an  interesting  experiment  for  twins 
who  were  closely  alike  to  try  how  far  dogs  could 
distinguish  between  them  by  scent. 

I  have  a  few  anecdotes  of  strange  mistakes  made 
between  twins  in  adult  life.     Thus,  an  officer  writes : — 

"  On  one  occasion  when  I  returned  from  foreign  service  my 
father  turned  to  me  and  said,  '  I  thought  you  were  in  London,' 
thinking  I  was  my  brother — yet  he  had  not  seen  me  for  nearly 
four  years — our  resemblance  was  so  great." 

The  next  and  last  anecdote  I  shall  give  is,  perhaps, 
the  most  remarkable  of  those  I  have ;  it  was  sent  me 
by  the  brother  of  the  twins,  who  were  in  middle  life 
at  the  time  of  its  occurrence: — 

"  A  was  again  coming  home  from  India,  on  leave  ;  the  ship 

personating  his  twin  brother  for  a  joke  at  supper,  and  not  being  dis- 
covered by  his  wife.  It  was  told  me  on  good  authority  ;  but  I  have 
reason  to  doubt  the  fact,  as  the  story  is  not  known  to  the  son  of  one 
of  the  twins.  However,  the  twins  in  question  were  extraordinarily 
alike,  and  I  have  many  anecdotes  about  them  sent  me  by  the  latter 
gentleman. 


224  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

did  not  arrive  for  some  days  after  it  was  due ;  the  twin  brother 
B  had  come  up  from  his  quarters  to  receive  A,  and  their  old 
mother  was  very  nervous.  One  morning  A  rushed  in  saying, 
'  Oh,  mother,  how  are  you  ? '  Her  answer  was,  '  No,  B,  it's  a 
bad  joke  ;  you  know  how  anxious  I  am  ! '  and  it  was  a  little  time 
before  A  could  persuade  her  that  he  was  the  real  man." 

Enough  has  been  said  to  prove  that  an  extremely 
close  personal  resemblance  frequently  exists  between 
twins  of  the  same  sex ;  and  that,  although  the  resem- 
blance usually  diminishes  as  they  grow  into  manhood 
and  womanhood,  some  cases  occur  in  which  the 
diminution  of  resemblance  is  hardly  perceptible.  It 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  is  not  necessary  to 
ascribe  the  divergence  of  development,  when  it  occurs, 
to  the  effect  of  different  nurtures,  but  it  is  quite 
possible  that  it  may  be  due  to  the  late  appearance 
of  qualities  inherited  at  birth,  though  dormant  in 
early  life,  like  gout.     To  this  I  shall  recur. 

There  is  a  curious  feature  in  the  character  of  the 
resemblance  between  twins,  which  has  been  alluded 
to  by  a  few  correspondents  ;  it  is  well  illustrated  by 
the  following  quotations.     A  mother  of  twins  says  : 

"  There  seemed  to  be  a  sort  of  interchangeable  likeness  in 
expression,  that  often  gave  to  each  the  effect  of  being  more  like 
his  brother  than  himself." 

Again,  twro  twin  brothers,  writing  to  me,  after 
analysing  their  points  of  resemblance,  which  are 
close  and  numerous,  and  pointing  out  certain  shades 
of  difference,  add — 

"  These  seem  to  have  marked  us  through  life,  though  for  a 
while,  when  we  were  first  separated,  the  one  to  go  to  business, 
and  the  other  to  college,  our  respective  characters  were  inverted ; 


HISTORY    OF   TWINS.  225 

we  both  think  that  at  that  time  we  each  ran  into  the  character 
of  the  other.  The  proof  of  this  consists  in  our  own  recollections, 
in  our  correspondence  by  letter,  and  in  the  views  which  we  then 
took  of  matters  in  which  we  were  interested." 

In  explanation  of  this  apparent  interchangeable- 
ness,  we  must  recollect  that  no  character  is  simple, 
and  that  in  twins  who  strongly  resemble  each  other, 
every  expression  in  the  one  may  be  matched  by  a 
corresponding  expression  in  the  other,  but  it  does 
not  follow  that  the  same  expression  should  be  the 
prevalent  one  in  both  cases.  Now  it  is  by  their 
prevalent  expressions  that  we  should  distinguish 
between  the  twins ;  consequently  when  one  twin 
has  temporarily  the  expression  which  is  the  pre- 
valent one  in  his  brother,  he  is  apt  to  be  mistaken 
for  him.  There  are  also  cases  where  the  develop- 
ment of  the  two  twins  is  not  strictly  pari  passu; 
they  reach  the  same  goal  at  the  same  time,  but  not 
by  identical  stages.  Thus  :  A  is  born  the  larger, 
then  B  overtakes  and  surpasses  A,  and  is  in  his  turn 
overtaken  by  A,  the  end  being  that  the  twins,  on 
reaching  adult  life,  are  of  the  same  size.  This  process 
would  aid  in  giving  an  interchangeable  likeness  at 
certain  periods  of  their  growth,  and  is  undoubtedly 
due  to  nature  more  frequently  than  to  nurture. 

Among  my  thirty-five  detailed  cases  of  close 
similarity,  there  are  no  less  than  seven  in  which  both 
twins  suffered  from  some  special  ailment  or  had  some 
exceptional  peculiarity.  One  twin  writes  that  she 
and  her  sister  "  have  both  the  defect  of  not  being 
able   to   come   downstairs  quickly,  which,  however, 

Q 


226  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

was  not  born  with  them,  but  came  on  at  the  age  of 
twenty."  Three  pairs  of  twins  have  peculiarities  in 
their  fingers  ;  in  one  case  it  consists  in  a  slight 
congenital  flexure  of  one  of  the  joints  of  the  little 
finger ;  it  was  inherited  from  a  grandmother,  but 
neither  parents,  nor  brothers,  nor  sisters  show  the 
least  trace  of  it.  In  another  case  the  twins  have  a 
peculiar  way  of  bending  the  fingers,  and  there  was  a 
faint  tendency  to  the  same  peculiarity  in  the  mother, 
but  in  her  alone  of  all  the  family.  In  a  third  case, 
about  which  I  made  a  few  inquiries,  which  is  given 
by  Mr.  Darwin,  but  is  not  included  in  my  returns, 
there  was  no  known  family  tendency  to  the  peculiar- 
ity which  was  observed  in  the  twins  of  having  a 
crooked  little  finger.  In  another  pair  of  twins,  one 
was  born  ruptured,  and  the  other  became  so  at  six 
months  old.  Two  twins  at  the  age  of  twenty-three 
were  attacked  by  toothache,  and  the  same  tooth  had 
to  be  extracted  in  each  case.  There  are  curious  and 
close  correspondences  mentioned  in  the  falling  off  of 
the  hair.  Two  cases  are  mentioned  of  death  from 
the  same  disease ;  one  of  which  is  very  affecting. 
The  outline  of  the  story  was  that  the  twins  were 
closely  alike  and  singularly  attached,  and  had  identi- 
cal tastes;  they  both  obtained  Government  clerkships, 
and  kept  house  together,  when  one  sickened  and  died 
of  Bright's  disease,  and  the  other  also  sickened  of  the 
same  disease  and  died  seven  months  later. 

Both  twins  were  apt  to  sicken  at  the  same  time 
in  no  less  than  nine  out  of  the  thirty-five  cases. 
Either   their   illnesses,   to  which  I  refer,  were   non- 


HISTORY    OF   TWINS.  227 

contagious,  or,  if  contagious,  tlie  twins  caught  them 
simultaneously ;  they  did  not  catch  them  the  one 
from  the  other.  This  implies  so  intimate  a  constitu- 
tional resemblance,  that  it  is  proper  to  give  some 
quotations  in  evidence.  Thus,  the  father  of  two 
twins  says : — 

"  Their  general  health  is  closely  alike  ;  whenever  one  of  them 
has  an  illness,  the  other  invariably  has  the  same  within  a  day  or 
two,  and  they  usually  recover  in  the  same  order.  Such  has 
been  the  case  with  whooping-cough,  chicken-pox,  and  measles  ; 
also  with  slight  bilious  attacks,  which  they  have  successively. 
Latterly,  they  had  a  feverish  attack  at  the  same  time." 

Another  parent  of  twins  says  : — 

"If  anything  ails  one  of  them,  identical  symptoms  nearly  always 
appear  in  the  other ;  this  has  been  singularly  visible  in  two  in- 
stances during  the  last  two  months.  Thus,  when  in  London, 
one  fell  ill  with  a  violent  attack  of  dysentery,  and  within  twenty- 
four  hours  the  other  had  precisely  the  same  symptoms." 

A  medical  man  writes  of  twins  with  whom  he  is 
well  acquainted : — 

"  Whilst  I  knew  them,  for  a  period  of  two  years,  there  was 
not  the  slightest  tendency  towards  a  difference  in  body  or  mind  ; 
external  influences  seemed  powerless  to  produce  any  dissimi- 
larity." 

The  mother  of  two  other  twins,  after  describing 
how  they  were  ill  simultaneously  up  to  the  age  of 
fifteen,  adds,  that  they  shed  their  first  milk-teeth 
within  a  few  hours  of  each  other. 

Trousseau  has  a  very  remarkable  case  (in  the 
chapter  on  Asthma)  in  his  important  work  Clinique 
Medicale.  (In  the  edition  of  1873  it  is  in  vol.  ii. 
p.   473).     It   was  quoted    at   length  in  the  original 


228  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

French,  in  Mr.  Darwin's  Variation  under  Domesti- 
cation, vol.  ii.  p.  252.  The  following  is  a  trans- 
lation : — 

"  I  attended  twin  brothers  so  extraordinarily  alike,  that  it 
was  impossible  for  me  to  tell  which  was  which,  without  seeing 
them  side  by  side.  But  their  physical  likeness  extended  still 
deeper,  for  they  had,  so  to  speak,  a  yet  more  remarkable  patho- 
logical resemblance.  Thus,  one  of  them,  whom  I  saw  at  the 
Neothermes  at  Paris,  suffering  from  rheumatic  ophthalmia,  said 
to  me,  '  At  this  instant  my  brother  must  be  having  an  ophthalmia 
like  mine  ;'  and,  as  I  had  exclaimed  against  such  an  assertion,  he 
showed  me  a  few  days  afterwards  a  letter  just  received  by  him 
from  his  brother,  who  was  at  that  time  at  Vienna,  and  who  ex- 
pressed himself  in  these  words — '  I  have  my  ophthalmia ;  you 
must  be  having  yours.'  However  singular  this  story  may  appear, 
the  fact  is  none  the  less  exact ;  it  has  not  been  told  to  me  by 
others,  but  I  have  seen  it  myself;  and  I  have  seen  other  ana- 
logous cases  in  my  practice.  These  twins  were  also  asthmatic, 
and  asthmatic  to  a  frightful  degree.  Though  born  in  Marseilles, 
they  were  never  able  to  stay  in  that  town,  where  their  business 
affairs  required  them  to  go,  without  having  an  attack.  Still  more 
strange,  it  was  sufficient  for  them  to  get  away  only  as  far  as  Toulon 
in  order  to  be  cured  of  the  attack  caught  at  Marseilles.  They 
travelled  continually,  and  in  all  countries,  on  business  affairs,  and 
they  remarked  that  certain  localities  were  extremely  hurtful  to 
them,  and  that  in  others  they  were  free  from  all  asthmatic 
symptoms." 

I  do  not  like  to  pass  over  here  a  most  dramatic  tale 
in  the  Psychologie  Morhide  of  Dr.  J.  Moreau  (de  Tours), 
Medecin  de  l'Hospice  de  Bicetre.  Paris,  1859,  p.  172. 
He  speaks  "  of  two  twin  brothers  who  had  been  con- 
fined, on  account  of  monomania,  at  Bicetre"  : — 

"Physically  the  two  young  men  are  so  nearly  alike  that  the 
one  is  easily  mistaken  for  the  other.  Morally,  their  resemblance 
is  no  less  complete,  and  is  most  remarkable  in  its  details.  Thus, 
their  dominant  ideas  are  absolutely  the  same.     They  both  con- 


HISTORY    OF    TWINS.  229 

sider  themselves  subject  to  imaginary  persecutions ;  the  same 
enemies  have  sworn  their  destruction,  and  employ  the  same  means 
to  effect  it.  Both  have  hallucinations  of  hearing.  They  are  both 
of  them  melancholy  and  morose ;  they  never  address  a  word  to 
anybody,  and  will  hardly  answer  the  questions  that  others  address 
to  them.  They  always  keep  apart,  and  never  communicate  with 
one  another.  An  extremely  curious  fact  which  has  been  fre- 
quently noted  by  the  superintendents  of  their  section  of  the 
hospital,  and  by  myself,  is  this :  From  time  to  time,  at  very 
irregular  intervals  of  two,  three,  and  many  months,  without 
appreciable  cause,  and  by  the  purely  spontaneous  effect  of  their 
illness,  a  very  marked  change  takes  place  in  the  condition  of  the 
two  brothers.  Both  of  them,  at  the  same  time,  and  often  on  the 
same  day,  rouse  themselves  from  their  habitual  stupor  and  pros- 
tration ;  they  make  the  same  complaint's,  and  they  come  of  their 
own  accord  to  the  physician,  with  an  urgent  request  to  be  liber- 
ated. I  have  seen  this  strange  thing  occur,  even  when  they  were 
some  miles  apart,  the  one  being  at  Bicetre,  and  the  other  living 
at  Saint-Anne." 

I  sent  a  copy  of  this  passage  to  the  principal  autho- 
rities among  the  physicians  to  the  insane  in  England, 
asking  if  they  had  ever  witnessed  any  similar  case.  In 
reply,  I  have  received  three  noteworthy  instances,  but 
none  to  be  compared  in  their  exact  parallelism  with  that 
just  given.  The  details  of  these  three  cases  are  pain- 
ful, and  it  is  not  necessary  to  my  general  purpose  that 
I  should  further  allude  to  them. 

There  is  another  curious  French  case  of  insanity  in 
twins,  which  was  pointed  out  to  me  by  Sir  James  Paget, 
described  by  Dr.  Baume  in  the  Annates  Medico-Psy- 
chologiques,  4  serie,  vol.  i.,  1863,  p.  312,  of  which  the 
following  is  an  abstract.  The  original  contains  a  few 
more  details,  but  is  too  long  to  quote  :  Francois  and 
Martin,  fifty  years  of  age,  worked  as  railroad  contrac- 


230  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

tors  between  Quimper  and  Chateaulin.  Martin  had 
twice  slight  attacks  of  insanity.  On  January  15  a 
box  was  robbed  in  which  the  twins  had  deposited  their 
savings.  On  the  night  of  January  23-4  both  Francois 
(who  lodged  at  Quimper)  and  Martin  (who  lived  with 
his  wife  and  children  at  St.  Lorette,  two  leagues  from 
Quimper)  had  the  same  dream  at  the  same  hour,  three 
a.m.,  and  both  awoke  with  a  violent  start,  calling  out, 
"I  have  caught  the  thief!  I  have  caught  the  thief! 
they  are  doing  mischief  to  my  brother!"  They  were 
both  of  them  extremely  agitated,  and  gave  way  to 
similar  extravagances,  dancing  and  leaping.  Martin 
sprang  on  his  grandchild,  declaring  that  he  was  the 
thief,  and  would  have  strangled  him  if  he  had  not  been 
prevented  ;  he  then  became  steadily  worse,  complained 
of  violent  pains  -in  his  head,  went  out  of  doors  on  some 
excuse,  and  tried  to  drown  himself  in  the  Eiver  Steir, 
but  was  forcibly  stopped  by  his  son,  who  had  watched 
and  followed  him.  He  was  then  taken  to  an  asylum 
by  gendarmes,  where  he  died  in  three  hours.  Fran- 
cois, on  his  part,  calmed  down  on  the  morning  of  the 
24th,  and  employed  the  day  in  inquiring  about  the 
robbery.  By  a  strange  chance,  he  crossed  his  brother's 
path  at  the  moment  when  the  latter  was  struggling 
with  the  gendarmes ;  then  he  himself  became  maddened, 
giving  way  to  extravagant  gestures  and  using  inco- 
herent language  (similar  to  that  of  his  brother).  He 
then  asked  to  be  bled,  which  was  done,  and  afterwards, 
declaring  himself  to  be  better,  went  out  on  the  pre- 
text of  executing  some  commission,  but  really  to  drown 
himself  in  the  Eiver  Steir,  which  he  actually  did,  at 


HISTORY    OF    TWINS.  231 

the  very  spot  where  Martin  had  attempted  to  do  the 
same  thing  a  few  hours  previously. 

The  next  point  which  I  shall  mention  in  illustra- 
tion of  the  extremely  close  resemblance  between  certain 
twins  is  the  similarity  in  the  association  of  their  ideas. 
No  less  than  eleven  out  of  the  thirty-five  cases  testify 
to  this.  They  make  the  same  remarks  on  the  same 
occasion,  begin  singing  the  same  song  at  the  same 
moment,  and  so  on ;  or  one  would  commence  a  sentence, 
and  the  other  would  finish  it.  An  observant  friend 
graphically  described  to  me  the  effect  produced  on  her 
by  two  such  twins  whom  she  had  met  casually.  She 
said :  "  Their  teeth  grew  alike,  they  spoke  alike  and 
together,  and  said  the  same  things,  and  seemed  just 
like  one  person."  One  of  the  most  curious  anecdotes 
that  I  have  received  concerning  this  similarity  of  ideas 
was  that  one  twin,  A,  who  happened  to  be  at  a  town 
in  Scotland,  bought  a  set  of  champagne  glasses  which 
caught  his  attention,  as  a  surprise  for  his  brother  B  ; 
while,  at  the  same  time,  B,  being  in  England,  bought 
a  similar  set  of  precisely  the  same  pattern  as  a  surprise 
for  A.  Other  anecdotes  of  a  like  kind  have  reached  me 
about  these  twins. 

The  last  point  to  which  I  shall  allude  regards  the 
tastes  and  dispositions  of  the  thirty  five  pairs  of  twins. 
In  sixteen  cases — that  is,  in  nearly  one-half  of  them 
— these  were  described  as  closely  similar ;  in  the  re- 
maining nineteen  they  were  much  alike,  but  subject 
to  certain  named  differences.  These  differences  be- 
longed almost  wholly  to  such  groups  of  qualities  as 
these  :  The  one  was  the  more  vigorous,  fearless,  ener- 


232  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

getic ;  the  other  was  gentle,  clinging,  and  timid ;  or 
the  one  was  more  ardent,  the  other  more  calm  and 
placid ;  or  again,  the  one  was  the  more  independent, 
original,  and  self-contained  ;  the  other  the  more  gene- 
rous, hasty,  and  vivacious.  In  short,  the  difference 
was  that  of  intensity  or  energy  in  one  or  other  of  its 
protean  forms  ;  it  did  not  extend  more  deeply  into  the 
structure  of  the  characters.  The  more  vivacious  might 
be  subdued  by  ill  health,  until  he  assumed  the  character 
of  the  other ;  or  the  latter  might  be  raised  by  excellent 
health  to  that  of  the  former.  The  difference  was  in 
the  key-note,  not  in  the  melody. 

It  follows  from  what  has  been  said  concerning  the 
similar  dispositions  of  the  twins,  the  similarity  in  the 
associations  of  their  ideas,  of  their  special  ailments, 
and  of  their  illnesses  generally,  that  the  resemblances 
are  not  superficial,  but  extremely  intimate.  I  have 
only  two  cases  of  a  strong  bodily  resemblance  being 
accompanied  by  mental  diversity,  and  one  case  only 
of  the  converse  kind.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
the  conditions  which  govern  extreme  likeness  between 
twins  are  not  the  same  as  those  between  ordinary 
brothers  and  sisters,  and  that  it  would  be  incorrect  to 
conclude  from  what  has  just  been  said  about  the  twins 
that  mental  and  bodily  likeness  are  invariably  co- 
ordinate, such  being  by  no  means  the  case. 

We  are  now  in  a  position  to  understand  that  the 
phrase  "  close  similarity "  is  no  exaggeration,  and  to 
realise  the  value  of  the  evidence  I  am  about  to 
adduce.  Here  are  thirty-five  cases  of  twins  who  were 
"closely  alike"  in  body  and  mind  when  they  were 


HISTORY   OF   TWINS.  233 

young,  and  who  have  been  reared  exactly  alike  up  to 
their  early  manhood  and  womanhood.  Since  then 
the  conditions  of  their  lives  have  changed ;  what 
charige  of  Nurture  has  produced  the  most  variation  % 

It  was  with  no  little  interest  that  I  searched  the 
records  of  the  thirty-five  cases  for  an  answer ;  and 
they  gave  an  answer  that  was  not  altogether  direct, 
but  it  was  distinct,  and  not  at  all  what  I  had 
expected.  They  showed  me  that  in  some  cases  the 
resemblance  of  body  and  mind  had  continued  un- 
altered up  to  old  age,  notwithstanding  very  different 
conditions  of  life  ;  and  they  showed  in  the  other  cases 
that  the  parents  ascribed  such  dissimilarity  as  there 
was,  wholly  or  almost  wholly  to  some  form  of  illness 
In  four  cases  it  was  scarlet  fever  ;  in  a  fifth,  typhus  ; 
in  a  sixth,  a  slight  effect  was  ascribed  to  a  nervous 
fever  :  iD  a  seventh  it  was  the  effect  of  an  Indian 
climate ;  in  an  eighth,  an  illness  (unnamed)  of  nine 
months'  duration ;  in  a  ninth,  varicose  veins ;  in  a 
tenth,  a  bad  fracture  of  the  leg,  which  prevented  all 
active  exercise  afterwards  ;  and  there  were  three 
additional  instances  of  undefined  forms  of  ill  health. 
It  will  be  sufficient  to  quote  one  of  the  returns ;  in 
this  the  father  writes  : — 

"  At  birth  they  were  exactly  alike,  except  that  one  was  born 
with  a  bad  varicose  affection,  the  effect  of  which  had  been  to 
prevent  any  violent  exercise,  such  as  dancing  or  running,  and,  as 
she  has  grown  older,  to  make  her  more  serious  and  thoughtful. 
Had  it  not  been  for  this  infirmity,  I  think  the  two  would  have 
been  as  exactly  alike  as  it  is  possible  for  two  women  to  be,  both 
mentally  and  physically  ;  even  now  they  are  constantly  mistaken 
for  one  another." 


234  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

In  only  a  very  few  cases  is  some  allusion  made 
to  the  dissimilarity  being  partly  due  to  the  combined 
action  of  many  small  influences,  and  in  none  of  the 
thirty-five  cases  is  it  largely,  much  less  wholly, 
ascribed  to  that  cause.  In  not  a  single  instance 
have  I  met  with  a  word  about  the  growing  dissimi- 
larity  being  due  to  the  action  of  the  firm  freewill 
of  one  or  both  of  the  twins,  which  had  triumphed 
over  natural  tendencies ;  and  yet  a  large  proportion 
of  my  correspondents  happen  to  be  clergymen,  whose 
bent  of  mind  is  opposed,  as  I  feel  assured  from  the 
tone  of  their  letters,  to  a  necessitarian  view  of  life. 

It  has  been  remarked  that  a  growing  diversity 
between  twins  may  be  ascribed  to  the  tardy  develop- 
ment of  naturally  diverse  qualities ;  but  we  have  a 
right,  upon  the  evidence  I  have  received,  to  go 
farther  than  this.  We  have  seen  that  a  few  twins 
retain  their  close  resemblance  through  life  :  in  other 
words,  instances  do  exist  of  an  apparently  thorough 
similarity  of  nature,  in  which  such  difference  of 
external  circumstances  as  may  be  consistent  with  the 
ordinary  conditions  of  the  same  social  rank  and 
country  do  not  create  dissimilarity.  Positive  evi- 
dence, such  as  this,  cannot  be  outweighed  by  any 
amount  of  negative  evidence.  Therefore,  in  those 
cases  where  there  is  a  growing  diversity,  and  where 
no  external  cause  can  be  assigned  either  by  the  twins 
themselves  or  by  their  family  for  it,  we  may  feel 
sure  that  it  must  be  chiefly  or  altogether  due  to  a 
want  of  thorough  similarity  in  their  nature.  Nay, 
further,  in  some  cases  it  is  distinctly  affirmed   that 


HISTORY    OF    TWINS.  235 

the  growing  dissimilarity  can  be  accounted  for  in  no 
other  way.  We  may,  therefore,  broadly  conclude 
that  the  only  circumstance,  within  the  range  of  those 
by  which  persons  of  similar  conditions  of  life  are 
affected,  that  is  capable  of  producing  a  marked  effect 
on  the  character  of  adults,  is  illness  or  some  accident 
which  causes  physical  infirmity.  The  twins  who 
closely  resembled  each  other  in  childhood  and  early 
youth,  and  were  reared  under  not  very  dissimilar 
conditions,  either  grow  unlike  through  the  develop- 
ment of  natural  characteristics  which  had  lain 
dormant  at  first,  or  else  they  continue  their  lives, 
keeping  time  like  two  watches,  hardly  to  be  thrown 
out  of  accord  except  by  some  physical  jar.  Nature 
is  far  stronger  than  Nurture  within  the  limited  range 
that  I  have  been  careful  to  assign  to  the  latter. 

The  effect  of  illness,  as  shown  by  these  replies, 
is  great,  and  well  deserves  further  consideration.  It 
appears  that  the  constitution  of  youth  is  not  so 
elastic  as  we  are  apt  to  think,  but  that  an  attack, 
say  of  scarlet  fever,  leaves  a  permanent  mark,  easily 
to  be  measured  by  the  present  method  of  comparison. 
This  recalls  an  impression  made  strongly  on  my 
mind  several  years  ago,  by  the  sight  of  some  curves 
drawn  by  a  mathematical  friend.  He  took  monthly 
measurements  of  the  circumference  of  his  children's 
heads  during  the  first  few  years  of  their  lives,  and 
he  laid  down  the  successive  measurements  on  the 
successive  lines  of  a  piece  of  ruled  paper,  by  taking 
the  edge  of  the  paper  as  a  base.  He  then  joined  the 
free  ends  of  the  lines,  and  so  obtained  a  curve  of 


236  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

growth.  These  curves  had,  on  the  whole,  that 
regularity  of  sweep  that  might  have  been  expected, 
but  each  of  them  showed  occasional  halts,  like  the 
landing-places  on  a  long  flight  of  stairs.  The  de- 
velopment had  been  arrested  by  something,  and  was 
not  made  up  for  by  after  growth.  Now,  on  the  same 
piece  of  paper  my  friend  had  also  registered  the 
various  infantine  illnesses  of  the  children,  and  cor- 
responding to  each  illness  was  one  of  these  halts. 
There  remained  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that,  if  these 
illnesses  had  been  warded  off,  the  development  of 
the  children  would  have  been  increased  by  almost 
the  precise  amount  lost  in  these  halts.  In  other 
words,  the  disease  had  drawn  largely  upon  the 
capital,  and  not  only  on  the  income,  of  their  con- 
stitutions. I  hope  these  remarks  may  induce  some 
men  of  science  to  repeat  similar  experiments  on  their 
children  of  the  future.  They  may  compress  two 
years  of  a  child's  history  on  one  side  of  a  ruled  half- 
sheet  of  foolscap  paper,  if  they  cause  each  successive 
line  to  stand  for  a  successive  month,  beginning  from 
the  birth  of  the  child ;  and  if  they  economise  space 
by  laying,  not  the  0-inch  division  of  the  tape  against 
the  edge  of  the  pages,  but,  say,  the  10-inch  division. 

The  steady  and  pitiless  march  of  the  hidden 
weaknesses  in  our  constitutions,  through  illness  to 
death,  is  painfully  revealed  by  these  histories  of 
twins.  We  are  too  apt  to  look  upon  illness  and  death 
as  capricious  events,  and  there  are  some  who  ascribe 
them  to  the  direct  effect  of  supernatural  interference, 
whereas  the  fact  of  the  maladies  of  two  twins  being 


HISTORY    OF    TWINS.  237 

continually  alike  shows  that  illness  and  death  are 
necessary  incidents  in  a  regular  sequence  of  constitu- 
tional changes  beginning  at  birth,  and  upon  which 
external  circumstances  have,  on  the  whole,  very  small 
effect.  In  cases  where  the  maladies  of  the  twins  are 
continually  alike,  the  clocks  of  their  two  lives  move 
regularly  on  at  the  same  rate,  governed  by  their 
internal  mechanism.  When  the  hands  approach  the 
hour,  there  are  sudden  clicks,  followed  by  a  whir- 
ring of  wheels  ;  the  moment  that  they  touch  it, 
the  strokes  fall.  Necessitarians  may  derive  new 
arguments  from  the  life-histories  of  twins. 

We  will  now  consider  the  converse  side  of  our 
subject,  which  appears  to  me  even  the  more  import- 
ant of  the  two.  Hitherto  we  have  investigated 
cases  where  the  similarity  at  first  was  close,  but 
afterwards  became  less ;  now  we  will  examine  those 
in  which  there  was  great  dissimilarity  at  first,  and 
will  see  how  far  an  identity  of  nurture  in  childhood 
and  youth  tended  to  assimilate  them.  As  has  been 
already  mentioned,  there  is  a  large  proportion  of 
cases  of  sharply-contrasted  characteristics,  both  of 
body  and  mind,  among  twins.  I  have  twenty  such 
cases,  given  with  much  detail.  It  is  a  fact  that 
extreme  dissimilarity,  such  as  existed  between  Esau 
and  Jacob,  is  a  no  less  marked  peculiarity  in  twins 
of  the  same  sex  than  extreme  similarity.  On  this 
curious  point,  and  on  much  else  in  the  history  of 
twins,  I  have  many  remarks  to  make,  but  this  is  not 
the  place  to  make  them. 


238  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

The  evidence  given  by  the  twenty  cases  above 
mentioned  is  absolutely  accordant,  so  that  the  charac- 
ter of  the  whole  may  be  exactly  conveyed  by  a  few 
quotations. 

(1.)  One  parent  says  : — "  They  have  had  exactly  the  same 
nurture  from  their  birth  up  to  the  present  time  ;  they  are  both 
perfectly  healthy  and  strong,  yet  they  are  otherwise  as  dissimilar 
as  two  boys  could  be,  physically,  mentally,  and  in  their  emo- 
tional nature." 

(2.)  "  I  can  answer  most  decidedly  that  the  twins  have 
been  perfectly  dissimilar  in  character,  habits,  and  likeness  from 
the  moment  of  their  birth  to  the  present  time,  though  they 
were  nursed  by  the  same  woman,  went  to  school  together,  and 
were  never  separated  till  the  age  of  fifteen." 

(3.)  "  They  have  never  been  separated,  never  the  least 
differently  treated  in  food,  clothing,  or  education  ;  both  teethed 
at  the  same  time,  both  had  measles,  whooping-cough,  and 
scarlatina  at  the  same  time,  and  neither  had  had  any  other 
serious  illness.  Both  are  and  have  been  exceedingly  healthy, 
and  have  good  abilities,  yet  they  differ  as  much  from  each 
other  in  mental  cast  as  any  one  of  my  family  differs  from 
another." 

(4.)  "  Very  dissimilar  in  body  and  mind  :  the  one  is  quiet, 
retiring,  and  slow  but  sure  ;  good-tempered,  but  disposed  to  be 
sulky  when  provoked  ; — the  other  is  quick,  vivacious,  forward, 
acquiring  easily  and  forgetting  soon ;  quick-tempered  and 
choleric,  but  quickly  forgiving  and  forgetting.  They  have 
been  educated  together  and  never  separated." 

(5.)  "  They  were  never  alike  either  in  body  or  mind  and 
their  dissimilarity  increases  daily.  The  external  influences  have 
been  identical ;  they  have  never  been  separated." 

(6.)  "  The  two  sisters  are  very  different  in  ability  and 
disposition.  The  one  is  retiring,  but  firm  and  determined ; 
she  has  no  taste  for  music  or  drawing.  The  other  is  of  an 
active,  excitable  temperament  ;  she  displays  an  unusual 
amount  of  quickness  and  talent,  and  is  passionately  fond  of 
music    and   drawing.     From    infancy,    they    have   been   rarely 


HISTORY    OF    TWINS.  239 

/~ 

separated  even  at  school,  and  as  children  visiting  their  friends,  <& 

they  always  went  together." 

(7.)  "  They   have   been  treated   exactly  alike  ;    both  were        AW 
brought  up  by  hand  ;  they  have  been  under  the  same  nurse 
and  governess  from  their  birth,  and  they  are  very  fond  of  each 
other.     Their   increasing    dissimilarity  must  be   ascribed   to   a  **   it 

natural   difference   of  mind   and  character,  as  there  has  been  ** 

nothing  in  their  treatment  to  account  for  it." 

(8.)  "  They  are  as  different  as  possible.  [A  minute  and 
unsparing  analysis  of  the  characters  of  the  two  twins  is  given 
by  their  father,  most  instructive  to  read,  but  impossible  to 
publish  without  the  certainty  of  wounding  the  feelings  of  one  of 
the  twins,  if  these  pages  should  chance  to  fall  under  his  eyes.] 
They  were  brought  up  entirely  by  hand,  that  is,  on  cow's  milk, 
and  treated  by  one  nurse  in  precisely  the  same  manner." 

(9.)  "  The  home-training  and  influence  were  precisely  the 
same,  and  therefore  I  consider  the  dissimilarity  to  be  accounted 
for  almost  entirely  by  innate  disposition  and  by  causes  over 
which  we  have  no  control." 

(10.)  "  This  case  is,  I  should  think,  somewhat  remarkable  for 
dissimilarity  in  physique  as  well  as  for  strong  contrast  in  cha- 
racter. They  have  been  unlike  in  body  and  mind  throughout 
their  lives.  Both  were  reared  in  a  country  house,  and  both 
were  at  the  same  schools  till  cut.  16." 

(11.)  "  Singularly  unlike  in  body  and  mind  from  babyhood  ; 
in  looks,  dispositions,  and  tastes  they  are  quite  different.  I 
think  I  may  say  the  dissimilarity  was  innate,  and  developed 
more  by  time  than  circumstance." 

(12.)  "We  were  never  in  the  least  degree  alike.  I  should 
say  my  sister's  and  my  own  character  are  diametrically  opposed, 
and  have  been  utterly  different  from  our  birth,  though  a  very 
strong  affection  subsists  between  us." 

(13.)  The  father  remarks  : — "They  were  curiously  different 
in  body  and  mind  from  their  birth." 

The  surviving  twin  (a  senior  wrangler  of  Cambridge)  adds  : 
— "  A  fact  struck  all  our  school  contemporaries,  that  my  brother 
and  I  were  complementary,  so  to  speak,  in  point  of  ability  and 
disposition.  He  was  contemplative,  poetical,  and  literary  to  a 
remarkable  degree,  showing  great  power  in  that  line.     I  was 


240  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

practical,  mathematical,  and  linguistic.     Between  us  we  should 
have  made  a  very  decent  sort  of  a  man." 

I  could  quote  others  just  as  strong  as  these,  in 
some  of  which  the  above  phrase  "  complementary  " 
also  appears,  while  I  have  not  a  single  case  in  which 
my  correspondents  speak  of  originally  dissimilar 
characters  having  become  assimilated  through  iden- 
tity of  nurture.  However,  a  somewhat  exaggerated 
estimate  of  dissimilarity  may  be  due  to  the  tendency 
of  relatives  to  dwell  unconsciously  on  distinctive 
peculiarities,  and  to  disregard  the  far  more  numerous 
points  of  likeness  that  would  first  attract  the  notice 
of  a  stranger.  Thus  in  case  11  I  find  the  remark, 
"  Strangers  see  a  strong  likeness  between  them,  but 
none  who  knows  them  well  can  perceive  it."  In- 
stances are  common  of  slight  acquaintances  mistak- 
ing members,  and  especially  daughters  of  a  family, 
for  one  another,  between  whom  intimate  friends  can 
barely  discover  a  resemblance.  Still,  making  reason- 
able allowance  for  unintentional  exaggeration,  the 
impression  that  all  this  evidence  leaves  on  the  mind 
is  one  of  some  wonder  whether  nurture  can  do  any- 
thing at  all,  beyond  giving  instruction  and  profes- 
sional training.  It  emphatically  corroborates  and 
goes  far  beyond  the  conclusions  to  which  we  had 
already  been  driven  by  the  cases  of  similarity.  In 
those,  the  causes  of  divergence  began  to  act  about 
the  period  of  adult  life,  when  the  characters  had 
become  somewhat  fixed ;  but  here  the  causes  con- 
ducive to  assimilation  began  to  act  from  the  earliest 
moment   of  the   existence  of  the   twins,  when   the 


HISTORY   OF   TWINS.  241 

disposition  was  most  pliant,  and  they  were  continuous 
until  the  period  of  adult  life.  There  is  no  escape 
from  the  conclusion  that  nature  prevails  enormously 
over  nurture  when  the  differences  of  nurture  do  not 


*"  "jik 


exceed  what  is  commonly  to  be  found  among  persons 


of  the  same  rank  of  society  and  in  the  same  country. 
My  fear  is,  that  my  evidence  may  seem  to  prove 
too  much,  and  be  discredited  on  that  account,  as 
it  appears  contrary  to  all  experience  that  nurture 
should  go  for  so  little.  But  experience  is  often 
fallacious  in  ascribing  great  effects  to  trifling  cir- 
cumstances. Many  a  person  has  amused  himself 
with  throwing  bits  of  stick  into  a  tiny  brook  and 
watching  their  progress  ;  how  they  are  arrested,  first 
by  one  chance  obstacle,  then  by  another  ;  and  again, 
how  their  onward  course  is  facilitated  by  a  combi- 
nation of  circumstances.  He  might  ascribe  much 
importance  to  each  of  these  events,  and  think  how 
largely  the  destiny  of  the  stick  had  been  governed  by 
a  series  of  trifling  accidents.  Nevertheless  all  the 
sticks  succeed  in  passing  down  the  current,  and  in 
the  long  run,  they  travel  at  nearly  the  same  rate. 
So  it  is  with  life,  in  respect  to  the  several  accidents 
which  seem  to  have  had  a  great  effect  upon  our  careers. 
The  one  element,  that  varies  in  different  individuals, 
but  is  constant  in  each  of  them,  is  the  natural  tend- 
ency ;  it  corresponds  to  the  current  in  the  stream, 
and  inevitably  asserts  itself. 

Much  stress  is  laid  on  the  persistence  of  moral 
impressions  made  in  childhood,  and  the  conclusion 
is  drawn,  that  the  effects  of  early  teaching  must  be 


242  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

important  in  a  corresponding  degree.  I  acknowledge 
the  fact,  so  far  as  has  been  explained  in  the  chapter 
on  Early  Sentiments,  but  there  is  a  considerable  set- 
off on  the  other  side.  Those  teachings  that  conform 
to  the  natural  aptitudes  of  the  child  leave  much 
more  enduring  marks  than  others.  Now  both  the 
teachings  and  the  natural  aptitudes  of  the  child  are 
usually  derived  from  its  parents.  They  are  able  to 
understand  the  ways  of  one  another  more  intimately 
than  is  possible  to  persons  not  of  the  same  blood,  and 
the  child  instinctively  assimilates  the  habits  and 
ways  of  thought  of  its  parents.  Its  disposition  is 
"  educated  "  by  them,  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word  ; 
that  is  to  say,  it  is  evoked,  not  formed  by  them. 
On  these  grounds  I  ascribe  the  persistence  of  many 
habits  that  date  from  early  home  education,  to  the 
peculiarities  of  the  instructors  rather  than  to  the 
period  when  the  instruction  was  given.  The  marks 
left  on  the  memory  by  the  instructions  of  a  foster- 
mother  are  soon  sponged  clean  away.  Consider  the 
history  of  the  cuckoo,  which  is  reared  exclusively  by 
foster-mothers.  It  is  probable  that  nearly  every 
young  cuckoo,  during  a  series  of  many  hundred 
generations,  has  been  brought  up  in  a  family  whose 
language  is  a  chirp  and  a  twitter.  But  the  cuckoo 
cannot  or  will  not  adopt  that  language,  or  any  other 
of  the  habits  of  its  foster-parents.  It  leaves  its 
birthplace  as  soon  as  it  is  able,  and  finds  out  its  own 
kith  and  kin,  and  identifies  itself  henceforth  with 
them.  So  utterly  are  its  earliest  instructions  in  an 
alien  bird-language  neglected,  and  so  completely  is 


DOMESTICATION  OF  ANIMALS.  243 

its  new  education  successful,  that  the  note   of  the 
cuckoo  tribe  is  singularly  correct. 


Domestication  of  Animals.1 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  Nature  and  Nurture, 
I  would  direct  attention  to  evidence  bearing  on  the 
conditions  under  which  animals  appear  first  to  have 
been  domesticated.  It  clearly  shows  the  small  power 
of  nurture  against  adverse  natural  tendencies. 

The  few  animals  that  we  now  possess  in  a  state  of 
domestication  were  first  reclaimed  from  wildness  in 
prehistoric  times.  Our  remote  barbarian  ancestors 
must  be  credited  with  having  accomplished  a  very 
remarkable  feat,  which  no  subsequent  generation  has 
rivalled.  The  utmost  that  we  of  modern  times  have 
succeeded  in  doing,  is  to  improve  the  races  of  those 
animals  that  we  received  from  our  forefathers  in  an 
already  domesticated  condition. 

There  are  only  two  reasonable  solutions  of  this 
exceedingly  curious  fact.     The  one  is,  that   men   of 

1  This  memoir  is  reprinted  from  the  Transactions  of  the  Ethnologi- 
cal Society,  1865,  with  an  alteration  in  the  opening  and  concluding 
paragraphs,  and  with  a  few  verbal  emendations.  If  I  had  discussed 
the  subject  now  for  the  first  time  1  should  have  given  extracts  from  the 
works  of  the  travellers  of  the  day,  but  it  seemed  needless  to  reopen 
the  inquiry  merely  to  give  it  a  more  modern  air.  I  have  also  preferred 
to  let  the  chapter  stand  as  it  was  written,  because  considerable  por- 
tions of  it  have  been  quoted  by  various  authors  {e.g.  Bagehot  Economic 
Studies,  pp.  161  to  166  :  Longman,  1880),  and  the  original  memoir  is 
not  easily  accessible. 


244  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

highly  original  ideas,  like  the  mythical  Prometheus, 
arose  from  time  to  time  in  the  dawn  of  human  pro- 
gress, and  left  their  resj>ective  marks  on  the  world  by 
being  the  first  to  subjugate  the  camel,  the  llama,  the 
reindeer,  the  horse,  the  ox,  the  sheep,  the  hog,  the  dog, 
or  some  other  animal  to  the  service  of  man.  The  other 
hypothesis  is  that  only  a  few  species  of  animals  are 
fitted  by  their  nature  to  become  domestic,  and  that 
these  were  discovered  long  ago  through  the  exercise 
of  no  higher  intelligence  than  is  to  be  found  among 
barbarous  tribes  of  the  present  day.  The  failure  of 
civilised  man  to  add  to  the  number  of  domesticated 
species  would  on  this  supposition  be  due  to  the  fact 
that  all  the  suitable  material  whence  domestic  animals 
could  be  derived  has  been  long  since  worked  out. 

I  submit  that  the  latter  hypothesis  is  the  true  one 
for  the  reasons  about  to  be  given  ;  and  if  so,  the  final- 
ity of  the  process  of  domestication  must  be  accepted 
as  one  of  the  most  striking  instances  of  the  inflexi- 
bility of  natural  disposition,  and  of  the  limitations 
thereby  imposed  upon  the  choice  of  careers  for  animals, 
and  by  analogy  for  those  of  men. 

My  argument  will  be  this : — All  savages  main- 
tain pet  animals,  many  tribes  have  sacred  ones,  and 
kings  of  ancient  states  have  imported  captive  animals 
on  a  vast  scale,  for  purposes  of  show,  from  neighbouring 
countries.  I  infer  that  every  animal,  of  any  preten- 
sions, has  been  tamed  over  and  over  again,  and  has 
had  numerous  opportunities  of  becoming  domesticated. 
But  the  cases  are  rare  in  which  these  opportunities 
have   led   to   any  result.     No   animal   is    fitted   for 


DOMESTICATION   OF  ANIMALS.  245 

domestication  unless  it  fulfils  certain  stringent  condi- 
tions, which  I  will  endeavour  to  state  and  to  discuss. 
My  conclusion  is,  that  all  domesticable  animals  of  any 
note  have  long  ago  fallen  under  the  yoke  of  man. 
In  short,  that  the  animal  creation  has  been  pretty 
thoroughly,  though  half  unconsciously,  explored,  by 
the  every-day  habits  of  rude  races  and  simple  civili- 
sations. 

It  is  a  fact  familiar  to  all  travellers,  that  savages 
frequently  capture  young  animals  of  various  kinds, 
and  rear  them  as  favourites,  and  sell  or  present 
them  as  curiosities.  Human  nature  is  generally  akin  : 
savages  may  be  brutal,  but  they  are  not  on  that 
account  devoid  of  our  taste  for  taming  and  caressing 
young  animals ;  nay,  it  is  not  improbable  that  some 
races  may  possess  it  in  a  more  marked  degree  than 
ourselves,  because  it  is  a  childish  taste  with  us ;  and 
the  motives  of  an  adult  barbarian  are  very  similar  to 
those  of  a  civilised  child. 

In  proving  this  assertion,  I  feel  embarrassed  with 
the  multiplicity  of  my  facts.  I  have  only  space  to 
submit  a  few  typical  instances,  and  must,  therefore, 
beg'  it  will  be  born  in  mind  that  the  following  list 
could  be  largely  reinforced.  Yet  even  if  I  inserted 
all  I  have  thus  far  been  able  to  collect,  I  believe  in- 
sufficient justice  would  be  done  to  the  real  truth  of 
the  case.  Captive  animals  do  not  commonly  fall 
within  the  observation  of  travellers,  who  mostly  con- 
fine themselves  to  their  own  encampments,  and  abstain 
from  entering  the  dirty  dwellings  of  the   natives ; 


246  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

neither  do  the  majority  of  travellers  think  tamed 
animals  worthy  of  detailed  mention.  Consequently 
the  anecdotes  of  their  existence  are  scattered  sparingly 
among  a  large  number  of  volumes.  It  is  when  those 
travellers  are  questioned  who  have  lived  long  and 
intimately  with  savage  tribes  that  the  plenitude  of 
available  instances  becomes  most  apparent. 

I  proceed  to  give  anecdotes  of  animals  being 
tamed  id  various  parts  of  the  world,  at  dates  when 
they  were  severally  beyond  the  reach  of  civilised  influ- 
ences, and  where,  therefore,  the  pleasure  taken  by  the 
natives  in  taming  them  must  be  ascribed  to  their 
unassisted  mother-wit.  It  will  be  inferred  that  the 
same  rude  races  who  were  observed  to  be  capable  of 
great  fondness  towards  animals  in  particular  instances, 
would  not  unfrequently  show  it  in  others. 

[North  America.] — The  traveller  Hearne,  who 
wrote  towards  the  end  of  the  last  century,  relates 
the  following  story  of  moose  or  elks  in  the  more 
northern  parts  of  North  America.     He  says  : — 

"  I  have  repeatedly  seen  moose  at  Churchill  as  tame  as  sheep 
and  even  more  so.  .  .  .  The  same  Indian  that  brought  them  to 
the  Factory  had,  in  the  year  1770,  two  others  so  tame  that  when 
on  his  passage  to  Prince  of  Wales's  Fort  in  a  canoe,  the  moose 
always  followed  him  along  the  bank  of  the  river ;  and  at  night, 
or  on  any  other  occasion  when  the  Indians  landed,  the  young 
moose  generally  came  and  fondled  on  them,  as  the  most  domestic 
animal  would  have  done,  and  never  offered  to  stray  from  the  tents." 

Sir  John  Richardson,  in  an  obliging  answer  to  my 
inquiries  about  the  Indians  of  North  America,  after 
mentioning  the  bison  calves,  wolves,  and  other  ani- 
mals that  they  frequently  capture  and  keep,  said : — 


DOMESTICATION   OF   ANIMALS.  247 

"  It  is  not  unusual,  I  have  heard,  for  the  Indians  to  bring  up 
young  bears,  the  'women  giving  them  milk  from  their  own  breasts." 

He  mentions  that  lie  himself  purchased  a  young  bear, 

and  adds : — 

"  The  red  races  are  fond  of  pets  and  treat  them  kindly ;  and 
in  purchasing  them  there  is  always  the  unwillingness  of  the 
women  and  children  to  overcome,  rather  than  any  dispute  about 
price.  My  young  bear  used  to  rob  the  women  of  the  berries 
they  had  gathered,  but  the  loss  was  borne  with  good  nature." 

I  will  again  quote  Hearne,  who  is  unsurpassed  for 
his  minute  and  accurate  narratives  of  social  scenes 
among  the  Indians  and  Esquimaux.  In  speaking  of 
wolves  he  says  : — 

"  They  always  burrow  underground  to  bring  forth  their 
young,  and  though  it  is  natural  to  suppose  them  very  fierce  at 
those  times,  yet  I  have  frequently  seen  the  Indians  go  to  their 
dens  and  take  out  the  young  ones  and  play  with  them.  I  never 
knew  a  Northern  Indian  hurt  one  of  them ;  on  the  contrary, 
they  always  put  them  carefully  into  the  den  again ;  and  I  have 
sometimes  seen  them  paint  the  faces  of  the  young  wolves  with 
vermilion  or  red  ochre." 

[South   America.] — Ulloa,    an   ancient   traveller, 

says : — 

"  Though  the  Indian  women  breed  fowl  and  other  domestic 
animals  in  their  cottages,  they  never  eat  them :  and  even  con- 
ceive such  a  fondness  for  them,  that  they  will  not  sell  them, 
much  less  kill  them  with  their  own  hands.  So  that  if  a  stranger 
who  is  obliged  to  pass  the  night  in  one  of  their  cottages,  offers 
ever  so  much  money  for  a  fowl,  they  refuse  to  part  with  it,  and 
he  finds  himself  under  the  necessity  of  killing  the  fowl  himself. 
At  this  his  landlady  shrieks,  dissolves  into  tears,  and  wrings  her 
hands,  as  if  it  had  been  an  only  son,  till  seeing  the  mischief  past 
mending,  she  wipes  her  eyes  and  quietly  takes  what  the  traveller 
offers  her." 


248  INQUIRIES    INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

The  care  of  the  South  American  Indians,  as  Quiloa 
truly  states,  is  by  no  means  confined  to  fowls.  Mr. 
Bates,  the  distinguished  traveller  and  naturalist  of 
the  Amazons,  has  favoured  me  with  a  list  of  twenty- 
two  species  of  quadrupeds  that  he  has  found  tame  in 
the  encampments  of  the  tribes  of  that  valley.  It 
includes  the  tapir,  the  agouti,  the  guinea-pig,  and  the 
peccari.  He  has  also  noted  five  species  of  quadrupeds 
that  were  in  captivity,  but  not  tamed.  These  in- 
clude the  jaguar,  the  great  ant-eater,  and  the  arma- 
dillo.    His  list  of  tamed  birds  is  still  more  extensive. 

[North  Africa.] — The  ancient  Egyptians  had  a 
positive  passion  for  tamed  animals,  such  as  antelopes, 
monkeys,  crocodiles,  panthers,  and  hyenas.  Mr. 
Goodwin,  the  eminent  Egyptologist,  informed  me  that 
"they  anticipated  our  zoological  tastes  completely," 
and  that  some  of  the  pictures  referring  to  tamed 
animals  are  among  their  very  earliest  monuments, 
viz.  2000  or  3000  years  B.C.  Mr.  Mansfield  Parkyns, 
who  passed  many  years  in  Abyssinia  and  the  countries 
of  the  Upper  Nile,  writes  me  word  in  answer  to  my 
inquiries : — 

"  I  am  sure  that  negroes  often  capture  and  keep  alive  wild 
animals.  I  have  bought  them  and  received  them  as  presents — 
wild  cats,  jackals,  panthers,  the  wild  dog,  the  two  best  lions  now 
in  the  Zoological  Gardens,  monkeys  innumerable  and  of  all  sorts, 
and  mongoos.  I  cannot  say  that  I  distinctly  recollect  any  pets 
among  the  lowest  orders  of  men  that  I  met  with,  such  as  the 
Denkas,  but  I  am  sure  they  exist,  and  in  this  way.  When  I 
was  on  the  White  Nile  and  at  Khartoum,  very  few  merchants 
went  up  the  White  Nile ;  none  had  stations.  They  were  little 
known  to  the  natives  ;  but  none  returned  without  some  live 
animal  or  bird  which  they  had  procured  from  them.     While  I 


DOMESTICATION   OF   ANIMALS.  249 

was  at  Khartoum,  there  came  an  Italian  wild  beast  showman, 
after  the  "Wombwell  style.  He  made  a  tour  of  the  towns  up  to 
Doul  and  Fazogly,  Kordofan  and  the  peninsula,  and  collected  a 
large  number  of  animals.  Thus  my  opinion  distinctly  is,  that 
negroes  do  keep  wild  animals  alive,  i"  am  sure  of  it ;  though  I 
can  only  vaguely  recollect  them  in  one  or  two  cases.  I  remem- 
ber some  chief  in  Abyssinia  who  had  a  pet  lion  which  he  used  to 
tease,  and  I  have  often  seen  monkeys  about  huts." 

[Equatorial  Africa,] — The  most  remarkable  in- 
stance I  have  met  with  in  modern  Africa  is  the 
account  of  a  menagerie  that  existed  up  to  the 
beginning  of  the  reign  of  the  present  king  of  the 
AVahumas,  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Nyanza,  Buna, 
the  great  despot  of  that  country,  reigned  till  1857. 
Captains  Burton  and  Speke  were  in  the  neighbour- 
hood in  the  following  year,  and  Captain  Burton  thus 
describes  (Journal  R.  G.  Soc,  xxix.  282)  the  report 
he  received  of  Suna's  collection  : — 

"  He  had  a  large  menagerie  of  lions,  elephants,  leopards,  and 
similar  beasts  of  disport ;  he  also  kept  for  amusement  fifteen  or 
sixteen  albinos ;  and  so  greedy  was  he  of  novelty,  that  even  a 
cock  of  peculiar  form  or  colour  would  have  been  forwarded  by  its 
owner  to  feed  his  eyes." 

Captain  Speke,  in  his  subsequent  journey  to  the 
Nile,  passed  many  months  at  Uganda,  as  the  guest  of 
Suna's  youthful  successor,  M'tese.  The  fame  of  the 
old  menagerie  was  fresh  when  Captain  Speke  was 
there.     He  wrote  to  me  as  follows  concerning  it : — 

"  I  was  told  Suna  kept  buffaloes,  antelopes,  and  animals  of 
all  '  colours '  (meaning  '  sorts  '),  and  in  equal  quantities.  M'tese, 
his  son,  no  sooner  came  to  the  throne,  than  he  indulged  in  shoot- 
ing them  down  before  his  admiring  wives,  and  now  he  has  only 
one  buffalo  and  a  few  parrots  left." 


250  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

In  Kouka,  near  Lake  Tchad,  antelopes  and 
ostriches  are  both  kept  tame,  as  I  was  informed  by 
Dr.  Barth. 

[South  Africa.] — The  instances  are  very  numerous 
in  South  Africa  where  the  Boers  and  half-castes 
amuse  themselves  with  rearing  zebras,  antelopes,  and 
the  like  ;  but  I  have  not  found  many  instances  among 
the  native  races.  Those  that  are  best  known  to  us 
are  mostly  nomad  and  in  a  chronic  state  of  hunger, 
and  therefore  disinclined  to  nurture  captured  animals 
as  pets  ;  nevertheless,  some  instances  can  be  adduced. 
Livingstone  alludes  to  an  extreme  fondness  for  small 
tame  singing-birds  (pp.  324  and  453).  Dr.  (now  Sir 
John)  Kirk,  who  accompanied  him  in  later  years, 
mentions  guinea-fowl^that  do  not  breed  in  confine- 
ment, and  are  merely  kept  as  pets — in  the  Shire 
valley,  and  Mr.  Oswell  has  furnished  me  with  one 
similar  anecdote.  I  feel,  however,  satisfied  that 
abundant  instances  could  be  found  if  properly  sought 
for.  It  was  the  frequency  with  which  I  recollect  to 
have  heard  of  tamed  animals  when  I  myself  was  in 
South  Africa,  though  I  never  witnessed  any  instance, 
that  first  suggested  to  me  the  arguments  of  the  pre- 
sent paper.     Sir  John  Kirk  informs  me  that : — 

"  As  you  approach  the  coast  or  Portugese  settlements,  pets 
of  all  kinds  become  very  common  ;  but  then  the  opportunity  of 
occasionally  selling  them  to  advantage  may  help  to  increase  the 
number ;  still,  the  more  settled  life  has  much  to  do  with  it." 

In  confirmation  of  this  view,  I  will  quote  an  early 
writer,  Pigafetta  (Hahluijt  Coll.,  ii.  562),  on  the  South 
African   kingdom   of  Congo,  who   found   a   strange 


DOMESTICATION   OF   ANIMALS.  251 

medley  of  animals  in  captivity,  long  before  the  de- 
mands of  semi-civilisation  had  begun  to  prompt  their 
collection : — 

The  King  of  Congo,  on  being  Christianised  by  the  Jesuit 
missionaries  in  the  sixteenth  century,  "signified  that  whoever 
had  any  idols  should  deliver  them  to  the  lieutenants  of  the 
country.  And  within  less  than  a  month  all  the  idols  which  they 
worshipped  were  brought  into  court,  and  certainly  the  number 
of  these  toys  was  infinite,  for  every  man  adored  what  he  liked 
without  any  measure  or  reason  at  all.  Some  kept  serpents  of 
horrible  figures,  some  worshipped  the  greatest  goats  they  could 
get,  some  leopards,  and  others  monstrous  creatures.  Some  held 
in  veneration  certain  unclean  fowls,  etc.  Neither  did  they  con- 
tent themselves  with  worshipping  the  said  creatures  when  alive, 
but  also  adored  the  very  skins  of  them  when  they  were  dead 
and  stuffed  with  straw." 

[Australia.] — Mr.  "VVoodfleld  records  the  following 
touching  anecdote  in  a  paper  communicated  to  the 
Ethnological  Society,  as  occurring  in  an  unsettled 
part  of  West  Australia,  where  the  natives  rank  as  the 
lowest  race  upon  the  earth  : — 

"During  the  summer  of  1858-9  the  Murchison  river  was 
visited  by  great  numbers  of  kites,  the  native  country  of  these 
birds  being  Shark's  Bay.  As  other  birds  were  scarce,  we  shot 
many  of  these  kites,  merely  for  the  sake  of  practice,  the  natives 
eagerly  devouring  them  as  fast  as  they  were  killed.  One  day  a 
man  and  woman,  natives  of  Shark's  Bay,  came  to  the  Murchison, 
and  the  woman  immediately  recognising  the  birds  as  coming 
from  her  country,  assured  us  that  the  natives  there  never  kill 
them,  and  that  they  are  so  tame  that  they  will  perch  on  the 
shoulders  of  the  women  and  eat  from  their  hands.  On  seeing 
one  shot  she  wept  bitterly,  and  not  even  the  offer  of  the  bird 
could  assuage  her  grief,  for  she  absolutely  refused  to  eat  it.  No 
more  kites  were  shot  while  she  remained  among  us." 

The  Australian  women  habitually  feed  the  puppies 


252  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

they  intend  to  rear  from  their  own  breasts,  and  show 
an  affection  to  them  equal,  if  not  exceeding,  that  to 
their  own  infants.  Sir  Charles  Nicholson  informs  me 
that  he  has  known  an  extraordinary  passion  for  cats 
to  be  demonstrated  by  Australian  women  at  Fort 
Phillip. 

[New  Guinea  Group.] — Captain  Develyn  is  re- 
reported  (Bennett,  Naturalist  in  Australia,  p.  244) 
to  say  of  the  island  of  New  Britain,  near  Australia, 
that  the  natives  consider  cassowaries  "to  a  certain 
degree  sacred,  and  rear  them  as  pets.  They  carry 
them  in  their  arms,  and  entertain  a  great  affection  for 
them." 

Professor  Huxley  informs  me  that  he  has  seen 
sucking-pigs  nursed  at  the  breasts  of  women,  appar- 
ently as  pets,  in  islands  of  the  New  Guinea  group. 

[Polynesia.] — The  savage  and  cannibal  Fijians 
were  no  exceptions  to  the  general  rule,  for  Dr.  See- 
niann  wrote  me  word  that  they  make  pets  of  the  flying 
fox  (bat),  the  lizard,  and  parroquet.  Captain  Wilkes, 
in  his  exploring  expedition  (ii.  122),  says  the  pigeon 
in  the  Samoon  islands  "  is  commonly  kept  as  a  play- 
thing, and  particularly  by  the  chiefs.  One  of  our 
officers  unfortunately  on  one  occasion  shot  a  pigeon, 
which  caused  great  commotion,  for  the  bird  was  a 
king  pigeon,  and  to  kill  it  was  thought  as  great  a 
crime  as  to  take  the  life  of  a  man." 

Mr.  Ellis,  writing  of  these  islands  [Polynesian 
Researches,  ii.  285),  says  : — 

"  Eels  are  great  favourites,  and  are  tamed  and  fed  till  they 
attain  an  enormous  size.     Taoarii  had  several  in  different  parts 


DOMESTICATION   OF   ANIMALS.  253 

of  the  island.  These  pets  were  kept  in  large  holes,  two  or  three 
feet  deep,  partially  filled  with  water.  I  have  been  several  times 
with  the  young  chief,  when  he  has  sat  down  by  the  side  of  the 
hole,  and  by  giving  a  shrill  sort  of  whistle,  has  brought  out  an 
enormous  eel,  which  has  moved  about  the  surface  of  the  water 
and  eaten  with  confidence  out  of  his  master's  hand." 

[Syria.] — I  will  conclude  this  branch  of  my  argu- 
ment by  quoting  the  most  ancient  allusion  to  a  pet 
that  I  can  discover  in  writing,  though  some  of  the 
Egyptian  pictured  representations  are  considerably 
older.  It  is  the  parable  spoken  by  the  Prophet 
Samuel  to  King  David,  that  is  expressed  in  the 
following  words  : — 

"  The  poor  man  had  nothing  save  one  little  ewe  lamb,  which 
he  had  bought  and  nourished  up :  and  it  grew  up  together  with 
him  and  with  his  children  3  it  did  eat  of  his  own  meat,  and 
drank  of  his  own  cup,  and  lay  in  his  bosom,  and  was  to  him  as  a 
daughter." 

"We  will  now  turn  to  the  next  stage  of  our  argu- 
ment. Not  only  do  savages  rear  animals  as  pets,  but 
communities  maintain  them  as  sacred.  The  ox  of 
India  and  the  brute  gods  of  Egypt  occur  to  us  at 
once;  the  same  superstition  prevails  widely.  The 
quotation  already  given  from  Pigafetta  is  in  point ; 
the  fact  is  too  well  known  to  readers  of  travel  to 
make  it  necessary  to  devote  space  to  its  proof.  I  will 
therefore  simply  give  a  graphic  account,  written  by 
M.  Jules  Gerard,  of  Whydah  in  "West  Africa : — 

"  I  visited  the  Temple  of  Serpents  in  this  town,  where  thirty 
of  these  monstrous  deities  were  asleep  in  various  attitudes. 
Each  day  at  sunset,  a  priest  brings  them  a  certain  number  of 
sheep,  goats,  fowls,  etc.,  which  are  slaughtered  in  the  temple  and 


254  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

then  divided  among  the  '  gods.'  Subsequently  during  the  night 
they  (?the  priests)  spread  themselves  about  the  town,  entering 
the  houses  in  various  quarters  in  search  of  further  offerings.  It 
is  forbidden  under  penalty  of  death  to  kill,  wound,  or  even  strike 
one  of  these  sacred  serpents,  or  any  other  of  the  same  species, 
and  only  the  priests  possess  the  privilege  of  taking  hold  of  them, 
for  the  purpose  of  reinstating  them  in  the  temple  should  they  be 
found  elsewhere." 

It  would  be  tedious  and  unnecessary  to  adduce 
more  instances  of  wild  animals  beins:  nurtured  in  the 
encampments  of  savages,  either  as  pets  or  as  sacred 
animals.  It  will  be  found  on  inquiry  that  few 
travellers  have  failed  altogether  to  observe  them.  If 
we  consider  the  small  number  of  encampments  they 
severally  visited  in  their  line  of  march,  compared 
with  the  vast  number  that  are  spread  over  the  whole 
area,  which  is  or  has  been  inhabited  by  rude  races,  we 
may  obtain  some  idea  of  the  thousands  of  places  at 
which  half-unconscious  attempts  at  domestication  are 
being  made  in  each  year.  These  thousands  must 
themselves  be  multiplied  many  thousandfold,  if  we 
endeavour  to  calculate  the  number  of  similar  attempts 
that  have  been  made  since  men  like  ourselves  began 
to  inhabit  the  world. 

My  argument,  strong  as  it  is,  admits  of  being 
considerably  strengthened  by  the  following  considera- 
tion : — 

The  natural  inclination  of  barbarians  is  often 
powerfully  reinforced  by  an  enormous  demand  for 
captured  live  animals  on  the  part  of  their  more 
civilised  neighbours.     A  desire  to  create  vast  hunt- 


DOMESTICATION    OF   ANIMALS. 


255 


ing- grounds  and  menageries  and  aniphitheatrical 
shows,  seems  naturally  to  occur  to  the  monarchs 
who  preside  over  early  civilisations,  and  travellers 
continually  remark  that,  whenever  there  is  a  market 
for  live  animals,  savages  will  supply  them  in  any 
quantities.  The  means  they  employ  to  catch  game 
for  their  daily  food  readily  admits  of  their  taking 
them  alive.  Pit-falls,  stake-nets,  and  springes  do  not 
kill.  If  the  savage  captures  an  animal  unhurt,  and 
can  make  more  by  selling  it  alive  than  dead,  he  will 
doubtless  do  so.  He  is  well  fitted  by  education  to 
keep  a  wild  animal  in  captivity.  His  mode  of  pur- 
suing game  requires  a  more  intimate  knowledge  of 
the  habits  of  beasts  than  is  ever  acquired  by  sports- 
men who  use  more  perfect  weapons.  A  savage  is 
obliged  to  steal  upon  his  game,  and  to  watch  like  a 
jackal  for  the  leavings  of  large  beasts  of  prey.  His 
own  mode  of  life  is  akin  to  that  of  the  creatures  he 
hunts.  Consequently,  the  savage  is  a  good  game- 
keeper ;  captured  animals  thrive  in  his  charge,  and 
he  finds  it  remunerative  to  take  them  a  long  way  to 
market.  The  demands  of  ancient  Kome  appear  to 
have  penetrated  Northern  Africa  as  far  or  farther 
than  the  steps  of  our  modern  explorers.  The  chief 
centres  of  import  of  wild  animals  were  Egypt, 
Assyria  (and  other  Eastern  monarchies),  Eome, 
Mexico,  and  Peru.  I  have  not  yet  been  able  to 
learn  what  were  the  habits  of  Hindostan  or  China. 
The  modern  menagerie  of  Lucknow  is  the  only  con- 
siderable native  effort  in  those  parts  with  which  I  am 
acquainted. 


256  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

[Egypt.] — The  mutilated  statistical  tablet  of  Kar- 
nak  (Trans.  R.  Soc.  Lit.,  1847,  p.  369,  and  1863, 
p.  65)  refers  to  an  armed  invasion  of  Armenia  by 
Thothmes  III.,  and  the  payment  of  a  large  tribute  of 
antelopes  and  birds.  When  Ptolemy  Philadelphus 
feted  the  Alexandrians  (Athenceus,  v.),  the  Ethiopians 
brought  dogs,  buffaloes,  bears,  leopards,  lynxes,  a 
giraffe,  and  a  rhinoceros.  Doubtless  this  description 
of  gifts  was  common.  Live  beasts  are  the  one  article 
of  curiosity  and  amusement  that  barbarians  can  offer 
to  civilised  nations. 

[Assyria.] — Mr.  Fox  Talbot  thus  translates  {Jour- 
nal Asiatic  Soc,  xix.  124)  part  of  the  inscription  on 
the  black  obelisk  of  Ashurakbal  found  in  Nineveh  and 
now  in  the  British  Museum  : — 

"  He  caught  in  hunter's  toils  (a  blank  number)  of  armi, 
turakhi,  nali,  and  yadi.  Every  one  of  these  animals  he  placed 
in  separate  enclosures.  He  brought  up  their  young  ones  and 
counted  them  as  carefully  as  young  lambs.  As  to  the  crea- 
tures called  burkish,  utrati  (dromedaries  ?),  tishani,  and  dagari, 
he  wrote  for  them  and  they  came.  The  dromedaries  he  kept 
in  enclosures,  where  he  brought  up  their  young  ones.  He 
entrusted  each  kind  of  animal  to  men  of  their  own  country  to 
tend  them.  There  were  also  curious  animals  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean Sea,  which  the  King  of  Egypt  sent  as  a  gift  and  entrusted 
to  the  care  of  men  of  their  own  land.  The  very  choicest  animals 
were  there  in  abundance,  and  birds  of  heaven  with  beautiful 
wings.  It  was  a  splendid  menagerie,  and  all  the  work  of  his 
own  hands.  The  names  of  the  animals  were  placed  beside 
them." 

[Koine.] — The  extravagant  demands  for  the  amphi- 
theatre of  ancient  Rome  must  have  stimulated  the 
capture  of  wild  animals  in  Asia,  Africa,  and  the  then 


DOMESTICATION   OF   ANIMALS.  257 

wild  parts  of  Europe,  to  an  extraordinary  extent.  I 
will  quote  one  instance  from  Gibbon : — 

"By  the  order  of  Probus,  a  vast  quantity  of  large  trees 
torn  up  by  the  roots  were  transplanted  into  the  midst  of  the 
circus.  The  spacious  and  shady  forest  was  immediately  filled 
with  a  thousand  ostriches,  a  thousand  stags,  a  thousand  fallow- 
deer,  and  a  thousand  wild  boars,  and  all  this  variety  of  game 
was  abandoned  to  the  riotous  impetuosity  of  the  multitude. 
The  tragedy  of  the  succeeding  day  consisted  in  the  massacre  of 
a  hundred  lions,  an  equal  number  of  lionesses,  two  hundred 
leopards,  and  three  hundred  bears." 

Farther  on  we  read  of  a  spectacle  by  the  younger 
Gordian  of  "  twenty  zebras,  ten  elks,  ten  giraffes, 
thirty  African  hyenas,  ten  Indian  tigers,  a  rhinoceros, 
an  hippopotamus,  and  thirty-two  elephants." 

[Mexico.] — Gomara,  the  friend  and  executor  of 
Herman  Cortes,  states  : — 

"  There  were  here  also  many  cages  made  of  stout  beams,  in 
some  of  which  there  were  lions  (pumas);  in  others,  tigers 
(jaguars) ;  in  others,  ounces  ;  in  others,  wolves ;  nor  was  there 
any  animal  on  four  legs  that  was  not  there.  They  had  for 
their  rations  deer  and  other  animals  of  the  chase.  There  were 
also  kept  in  large  jars  or  tanks,  snakes,  alligators,  and  lizards. 
In  another  court  there  were  cages  containing  ever}'  kind  of  birds 
of  prey,  such  as  vultures,  a  dozen  sorts  of  falcons  and  hawks, 
eagles,  and  owls.  The  large  eagles  received  turkeys  for  their 
food.  Our  Spaniards  were  astonished  at  seeing  such  a  diver- 
sity of  birds  and  beasts  \  nor  did  they  find  it  pleasant  to  hear 
the  hissing  of  the  poisonous  snakes,  the  roaring  of  the  lions,  the 
shrill  cries  of  the  wolves,  nor  the  groans  of  the  other  animals 
given  to  them  for  food." 

[Peru.]  —  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega  (Commentaries 
Beetles,  v.  10),  the  son  of  a  Spanish  conqueror  by  an 
Iudian  princess,  born  and  bred  in  Peru,  writes : — 

s 


258  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

"  All  the  strange  birds  and  beasts  which  the  chiefs  presented 
to  the  Inca  were  kept  at  court,  both  for  grandeur  and  also  to 
please  the  Indians  who  presented  them.  When  I  came  to 
Cuzco,  I  remember  there  were  some  remains  of  places  where 
they  kept  these  creatures.  One  was  the  serpent  conservatory, 
and  another  where  they  kept  the  pumas,  jaguars,  and  bears." 

[Syria  and  Greece.] — I  could  have  said  something 
on  Solomon's  apes  and  peacocks,  and  could  have 
quoted  at  length  the  magnificent  order  given  by 
Alexander  the  Great  (Pliny,  Nat.  Hist.,  viii.  16) 
towards  supplying  material  for  Aristotle's  studies  in 
natural  history  ;  but  enough  has  been  said  to  prove 
what  I  maintained,  namely,  that  numerous  cases 
occur,  year  after  year,  and  age  after  age,  in  which 
every  animal  of  note  is  captured  and  its  capabilities 
of  domestication  unconsciously  tested. 

I  would  accept  in  a  more  stringent  sense  than  it 
was  probably  intended  to  bear,  the  text  of  St.  James, 
who  wrote  at  a  time  when  a  vast  variety  and  multi- 
tude of  animals  were  constantly  being  forwarded  to 
Rome  and  to  Antioch  for  amphitheatrical  shows. 
He  says  (James  iii.  7),  "  Every  kind  of  beasts,  and  of 
birds,  and  of  serpents,  and  of  things  in  the  sea,  is 
tamed,  and  hath  been  tamed  of  mankind." 

I  conclude  from  what  I  have  stated  that  there  is 
no  animal  worthy  of  domestication  that  has  not 
frequently  been  captured,  and  might  ages  ago  have 
established  itself  as  a  domestic  breed,  had  it  not  been 
deficient  in  certain  necessary  particulars  which  I 
shall  proceed  to  discuss.  These  are  numerous  and 
so  stringent  as  to  leave  no  ground  for  wonder  that 


DOMESTICATION    OF   ANIMALS.  259 

out  of  the  vast  abundance  of  the  animal  creation, 
only  a  few  varieties  of  a  few  species  should  have 
become  the  companions  of  man. 

It  by  no  means  follows  that  because  a  savage 
cares  to  take  home  a  young  fawn  to  amuse  himself, 
his  family,  and  his  friends,  that  he  will  always  con- 
tinue to  feed  or  to  look  after  it.  Such  attention 
would  require  a  steadiness  of  purpose  foreign  to  the 
ordinary  character  of  a  savage.  But  herein  lie  two 
shrewd  tests  of  the  eventual  destiny  of  the  animal  as 
a  domestic  species. 

Hardiness. — It  must  be  able  to  shift  for  itself 
and  to  thrive,  although  it  is  neglected ;  since,  if  it 
wanted  much  care,  it  would  never  be  worth  its  keep. 

The  hardiness  of  our  domestic  animals  is  shown 
by  the  rapidity  with  which  they  establish  themselves 
in  new  lands.  The  goats  and  hogs  left  on  islands 
by  the  earlier  navigators  throve  excellently  on  the 
whole.  The  horse  has  taken  possession  of  the 
Pampas,  and  the  sheep  and  ox  of  Australia.  The  dog 
is  hardly  repressible  in  the  streets  of  an  Oriental 
town. 

Fondness  of  Man. — Secondly,  it  must  cling  to 
man,  notwithstanding  occasional  hard  usage  and 
frequent  neglect.  If  the  animal  had  no  natural 
attachment  to  our  species,  it  would  fret  itself  to 
death,  or  escape  and  revert  to  wildness.  It  is  easy 
to  find  cases  where  the  partial  or  total  non-fulfilment 
of  this  condition  is  a  corresponding  obstacle  to 
domestication.  Some  kinds  of  cattle  are  too  pre- 
cious to  be  discarded,  but  very  troublesome  to  look 


260  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

after.  Such  are  the  reindeer  to  the  Lapps.  Mr. 
Campbell  of  Islay  informed  me  that  the  tamest  of 
certain  herds  of  them  look  as  if  they  were  wild  ;  they 
have  to  be  caught  with  a  lasso  to  be  milked.  If 
they  take  fright,  they  are  off  to  the  hills ;  con- 
sequently the  Lapps  are  forced  to  accommodate 
themselves  to  the  habits  of  their  beasts,  and  to 
follow  them  from  snow  to  sea  and  from  sea  to  snow 
at  different  seasons.  The  North  American  reindeer 
has  never  been  domesticated,  owing,  I  presume,  to 
this  cause.  The  Peruvian  herdsmen  would  have 
had  great  trouble  to  endure  had  the  llama  and  alpaca 
not  existed,  for  their  cogeners,  the  huanacu  and  the 
vicuna,  are  hardly  to  be  domesticated. 

Zebras,  speaking  broadly,  are  unmanageable. 
The  Dutch  Boers  constantly  endeavour  to  break 
them  to  harness,  and  though  they  occasionally 
succeed  to  a  degree,  the  wild  mulish  nature  of  the 
animal  is  always  breaking  out,  and  liable  to  balk 
them. 

It  is  certain  that  some  animals  have  naturally  a 
greater  fondness  for  man  than  others  ;  and  as  a  proof 
of  this,  I  will  again  quote  Hearne  about  the  moose, 
who  are  considered  by  him  to  be  the  easiest  to  tame 
and  domesticate  of  any  of  the  deer  tribe.  Formerly 
the  closely-allied  European  elks  were  domesticated  in 
Sweden,  and  used  to  draw  sledges,  as  they  are  now 
occasionally  in  Canada ;  but  they  have  been  obsolete 
for  many  years.     Hearne  says  : — 

"The  young  ones  are  so  simple  that  I  remember  to  have  seen 
an  Indian  paddle  his  canoe  up  to  one  of  them,  and  take  it  by 


DOMESTICATION   OF   ANIMALS.  261 

the  poll,  without  experiencing  the  least  opposition,  the  poor 
harmless  animal  seeming  at  the  same  time  as  contented  along- 
side the  canoe  as  if  swimming  by  the  side  of  its  dam,  and  look- 
ing up  in  our  faces  with  the  same  fearless  innocence  that  a  house 
lamb  would." 

On  the  other  hand,  a  young  bison  will  try  to  dash 
out  its  brains  against  the  tree  to  which  it  is  tied,  in 
terror  and  hatred  of  its  captors. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  causes  that  conduce 
to  a  decided  attachment  of  certain  animals  to  man, 
or  between  one  kind  of  animal  and  another.  It  is 
notorious  that  attachments  and  aversions  exist  in 
nature.  Swallows,  rooks,  and  storks  frequent  dwell- 
ing houses ;  ostriches  and  zebras  herd  together  ;  so  do 
bisons  and  elks.  On  the  other  hand,  deer  and  sheep, 
which  are  both  gregarious,  and  both  eat  the  same 
food  and  graze  within  the  same  enclosure,  avoid  one 
another.  The  spotted  Danish  dog,  the  Spitz  dog, 
and  the  cat,  have  all  a  strong  attachment  to  horses, 
and  horses  seem  pleased  with  their  company  ;  but 
dogs  and  cats  are  proverbially  discordant.  I  presume 
that  two  species  of  animals  do  not  consider  one 
another  companionable,  or  clubable,  unless  their 
behaviour  and  their  persons  are  reciprocally  agree- 
able. A  phlegmatic  animal  would  be  exceedingly 
disquieted  by  the  close  companionship  of  an  excit- 
able one.  The  movements  of  one  beast  may  have  a 
character  that  is  unpleasing  to  the  eyes  of  another ; 
his  cries  may  sound  discordant ;  his  smell  may  be 
repulsive.  Two  herds  of  animals  would  hardly 
intermingle,   unless    their    respective    languages    of 


262  INQUIRIES  INTO    HUMAN   FACULTY. 

action  and  of  voice  were  mutually  intelligible.  The 
animal  which,  above  all  others  is  a  companion  to  man 
is  the  dog,  and  we  observe  how  readily  their  proceed- 
ings are  intelligible  to  each  other.  Every  whine  or 
bark  of  the  dog,  each  of  his  fawning,  savage,  or 
timorous  movements  is  the  exact  counterpart  of  what 
would  have  been  the  man's  behaviour,  had  he  felt 
similar  emotions.  As  the  man  understands  the 
thoughts  of  the  dog,  so  the  dog  understands  the 
thoughts  of  the  man,  by  attending  to  his  natural 
voice,  his  countenance,  and  his  actions.  A  man 
irritates  a  dog  by  an  ordinary  laugh,  he  frightens 
him  by  an  angry  look,  or  he  calms  him  by  a  kindly 
bearing  ;  but  he  has  less  spontaneous  hold  over  an  ox 
or  a  sheep.  He  must  study  their  ways  and  tutor  his 
behaviour  before  he  can  either  understand  the  feel- 
ings of  those  animals  or  make  his  own  intelligible  to 
them.  He  has  no  natural  power  at  all  over  many 
other  creatures.  Who,  for  instance,  ever  succeeded 
in  frowning  away  a  mosquito,  or  in  pacifying  an 
angry  wasp  by  a  smile  ? 

Desire  of  Comfort.  —  This  is  a  motive  which 
strongly  attaches  certain  animals  to  human  habita- 
tions, even  though  they  are  unwelcome :  it  is  a 
motive  which  few  persons  who  have  not  had  an 
opportunity  of  studying  animals  in  savage  lands  are 
likely  to  estimate  at  its  true  value.  The  life  of  all 
beasts  in  their  wild  state  is  an  exceedingly  anxious 
one.  From  my  own  recollection,  I  believe  that  every 
antelope  in  South  Africa  has  to  run  for  its  life  every 
one  or  two  days  upon  an  average,  and  that  he  starts 


DOMESTICATION    OF   ANIMALS.  263 

or  gallops  under  the  influence  of  a  false  alarm  many 
times  in  a  day.  Those  who  have  crouched  at  night  by 
the  side  of  pools  in  the  desert,  in  order  to  have  a  shot 
at  the  beasts  that  frequent  them,  see  strange  scenes 
of  animal  life  ;  how  the  creatures  gambol  at  one 
moment  and  fight  at  another  ;  how  a  herd  suddenly 
halts  in  strained  attention,  and  then  breaks  into 
a  maddened  rush,  as  one  of  them  becomes  conscious 
of  the  stealthy  movements  or  rank  scent  of  a  beast 
of  prey.  Now  this  hourly  life-and-death  excitement 
is  a  keen  delight  to  most  wild  creatures,  but  must  be 
peculiarly  distracting  to  the  comfort-loving  tempera- 
ment of  others.  The  latter  are  alone  suited  to  endure 
the  crass  habits  and  dull  routine  of  domesticated  life. 
Suppose  that  an  animal  which  has  been  captured  and 
half-tamed,  received  ill-usage  from  his  captors,  either 
as  punishment  or  through  mere  brutality,  and  that 
he  rushed  indignantly  into  the  forest  with  his  ribs 
aching  from  blows  and  stones.  If  a  comfort-loving 
animal,  he  will  probably  be  no  gainer  by  the  change, 
more  serious  alarms  and  no  less  ill-usage  awaits  him  ; 
he  hears  the  roar  of  the  wild  beasts  and  the  headlong 
gallop  of  the  frightened  herds,  and  he  finds  the 
buttings  and  the  kicks  of  other  animals  harder  to 
endure  than  the  blows  from  which  he  fled.  He  has 
the  disadvantage  of  being  a  stranger,  for  the  herds 
of  his  own  species  which  he  seeks  for  companion- 
ship constitute  so  many  cliques,  into  which  he  can 
only  find  admission  by  more  fighting  with  their 
strongest  members  than  he  has  spirit  to  undergo. 
As  a  set-off  against  these  miseries,  the  freedom  of 


264  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

savage  life  has  no  charms  for  his  temperament ;  so 
the  end  of  it  is,  that  with  a  heavy  heart  he  turns 
back  to  the  habitation  he  had  quitted.  When 
animals  thoroughly  enjoy  the  excitement  of  wild 
life,  I  presume  they  cannot  be  domesticated,  they 
could  only  be  tamed,  for  they  would  never  return 
from  the  joys  of  the  wilderness  after  they  had  once 
tasted  them  through  some  accidental  wandering. 

Gallinas,  or  guinea-fowl,  have  so  little  care  for 
comfort,  or  indeed  for  man,  that  they  fall  but  a  short 
way  within  the  frontier  of  domestication.  It  is  only 
in  inclement  seasons  that  they  take  contentedly  to 
the  poultry-yards. 

Elephants,  from  their  size  and  power,  are  not 
dependent  on  man  for  protection ;  hence,  those  that 
have  been  reared  as  pets  from  the  time  they  were 
calves,  and  have  never  learned  to  dread  and  obey  the 
orders  of  a  driver,  are  peculiarly  apt  to  revert  to 
wildness  if  they  once  are  allowed  to  wander  and 
escape  to  the  woods.  I  believe  this  tendency,  to- 
gether with  the  cost  of  maintenance  and  the  com- 
parative uselessness  of  the  beasts,  are  among  the 
chief  causes  why  Africans  never  tame  them  now ; 
though  they  have  not  wholly  lost  the  practice  of 
capturing  them  when  full-grown,  and  of  keeping 
them  imprisoned  for  some  days  alive.  Mr.  Winwood 
Eeade's  account  of  captured  elephants,  seen  by  him- 
self near  Glass  Town  in  Equatorial  Western  Africa,  is 
very  curious. 

Usefulness  to  Man. — To  proceed  with  the  list  of 
requirements  which  a  captured  animal  must  satisfy 


DOMESTICATION    OF   ANIMALS.  265 

before  it  is  possible  he  could  be  permanently  domes- 
ticated :  there  is  the  very  obvious  condition  that  he 
should  be  useful  to  man ;  otherwise,  in  growing  to 
maturity,  and  losing  the  pleasing  youthful  ways 
which  had  first  attracted  his  captors  and  caused 
them  to '  make  a  pet  of  him,  he  would  be  repelled. 
As  an  instance  in  point,  I  will  mention  seals.  Many 
years  ago  I  used  to  visit  Shetland,  when  those 
animals  were  still  common,  and  I  heard  many  stories 
of  their  being  tamed :  one  will  suffice  : — A  fisherman 
caught  a  young  seal ;  it  was  very  affectionate,  and 
frequented  his  hut,  fishing  for  itself  in  the  sea.  At 
length  it  grew  self-willed  and  unwieldy ;  it  used  to 
push  the  children  and  snap  at  strangers,  and  it  was 
voted  a  nuisance,  but  the  people  could  not  bear  to 
kill  it  on  account  of  its  human  ways.  One  day  the 
fisherman  took  it  with  him  in  his  boat,  and  dropped 
it  in  a  stormy  sea,  far  from  home  ;  the  stratagem 
was  unsuccessful;  in  a  day  or  two  the  well-known 
scuffling  sound  of  the  seal,  as  it  floundered  up  to  the 
hut,  was  again  heard  ;  the  animal  had  found  its  way 
home.  Some  days  after  the  poor  creature  was  shot 
by  a  sporting  stranger,  who  saw  it  basking  and  did 
not  know  it  was  tame.  Now  had  the  seal  been  a 
useful  animal  and  not  troublesome,  the  fisherman 
would  doubtless  have  caught  others,  and  set  a  watch 
over  them  to  protect  them  ;  and  then,  if  they  bred 
freely  and  were  easy  to  tend,  it  is  likely  enough 
he  would  have  produced  a  domestic  breed. 

The  utility  of  the  animals  as  a  store  of  future 
food   is   undoubtedly  the  most   durable   reason   for 


266  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

maintaining  them ;  but  I  think  it  was  probably  not 
so  early  a  motive  as  the  chief's  pleasure  in  possessing 
them.  That  was  the  feeling  under  which  the  mena- 
geries, described  above,  were  established.  Whatever 
the  despot  of  savage  tribes  is  pleased  with  becomes 
invested  with  a  sort  of  sacredness.  His  tame  animals 
would  be  the  care  of  all  his  people,  who  would 
become  skilful  herdsmen  under  the  pressure  of  fear. 
It  would  be  as  much  as  their  lives  were  worth  if  one 
of  the  creatures  were  injured  through  their  neglect. 
I  believe  that  the  keeping  of  a  herd  of  beasts,  with 
the  sole  motive  of  using  them  as  a  reserve  for  food, 
or  as  a  means  of  barter,  is  a  late  idea  in  the  history 
of  civilisation.  It  has  now  become  established 
among  the  pastoral  races  of  South  Africa,  owing  to 
the  traffickings  of  the  cattle-traders,  but  it  was  by  no 
means  prevalent  in  Damara-Land  when  I  travelled 
there  in  1852.  I  then  was  surprised  to  observe  the 
considerations  that  induced  the  chiefs  to  take  pleasure 
in  their  vast  herds  of  cattle.  They  were  valued  for 
their  stateliness  and  colour,  far  more  than  for  their 
beef.  They  were  as  the  deer  of  an  English  squire,  or 
as  the  stud  of  a  man  who  has  many  more  horses  than 
he  can  ride.  An  ox  was  almost  a  sacred  beast  in 
Damara-Land,  Dot  to  be  killed  except  on  momentous 
occasions,  and  then  as  a  sort  of  sacrificial  feast,  in 
which  all  bystanders  shared.  The  payment  of  two 
oxen  was  hush-money  for  the  life  of  a  man.  I  was 
considerably  embarrassed  by  finding  that  I  had  the 
greatest  trouble  in  buying  oxen  for  my  own  use,  with 
the  ordinary  articles  of  barter.     The  possessors  would 


DOMESTICATION    OF   ANIMALS.  267 

hardly  part  with  them  for  any  remuneration  ;  they 
would  never  sell  their  handsomest  beasts. 

One  of  the  ways  in  which  the  value  of  tamed 
beasts  would  be  soon  appreciated  would  be  that  of 
en  vino-  milk  to  children.     It  is  marvellous  how  soon 

0  © 

goats  find  out  children  and  tempt  them  to  suckle. 

1  have  had  the  milk  of  my  goats,  when  encamping 
for  the  night  in  African  travels,  drained  dry  by  small 
black  children,  who  had  not  the  strength  to  do  more 
than  crawl  about,  but  nevertheless  came  to  some 
secret  understanding  with  the  goats  and  fed  them- 
selves. The  records  of  many  nations  have  legends 
like  that  of  Romulus  and  Remus,  who  are  stated  to 
have  been  suckled  by  wild  beasts.  These  are  sur- 
prisingly confirmed  by  General  Sleeman's  narrative 
of  six  cases  where  children  were  nurtured  for  many 
years  by  wolves  in  Oude.  {Journey  through  Oude 
in  1849-50,  i.  206.) 

Breeding  freely. — Domestic  animals  must  breed 
freely  under  confinement.  This  necessity  limits  very 
narrowly  the  number  of  species  which  might  other- 
wise have  been  domesticated.  It  is  one  of  the  most 
important  of  all  the  conditions  that  have  to  be  satis- 
fied. The  North  American  turkey,  reared  from  the 
eggs  of  the  wild  bird,  is  stated  to  be  unknown  in  the 
third  generation,  in  captivity.  Our  turkey  comes 
from  Mexico,  and  was  abundantly  domesticated  by 
the  ancient  Mexicans. 

The  Indians  of  the  Upper  Amazon  took  turtle  and 
placed  them  in  lagoons  for  use  in  seasons  of  scarcity. 
The  Spaniards  who  first  saw  them  called  these  turtle 


268  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

"  Indian  cattle."  They  would  certainly  have  become 
domesticated  like  cattle,  if  they  had  been  able  to 
breed  in  captivity. 

Easy  to  tend. — They  must  be  tended  easily. 
When  animals  reared  in  the  house  are  suffered  to  run 
about  in  the  companionship  of  others  like  themselves, 
they  naturally  revert  to  much  of  their  original  wildness. 
It  is  therefore  essential  to  domestication  that  they  should 
possess  some  quality  by  which  large  numbers  of  them 
may  be  controlled  by  a  few  herdsmen.  The  instinct 
of  gregariousness  is  such  a  quality.  The  herdsman  of 
a  vast  troop  of  oxen  grazing  in  a  forest,  so  long  as  he 
is  able  to  see  one  of  them,  knows  pretty  surely  that 
they  are  all  within  reach.  If  oxen  are  frightened  and 
gallop  off,  they  do  not  scatter,  but  remain  in  a  single 
body.  When  animals  are  not  gregarious,  they  are  to 
the  herdsman  like  a  falling  necklace  of  beads  whose 
string  is  broken,  or  as  a  handful  of  water  escaping 
between  the  fingers. 

The  cat  is  the  only  non-gregarious  domestic  ani- 
mal. It  is  retained  by  its  extraordinary  adhesion  to 
the  comforts  of  the  house  in  which  it  is  reared. 

An  animal  may  be  perfectly  fitted  to  be  a  domestic 
animal,  and  be  peculiarly  easy  to  tend  in  a  general 
way,  and  yet  the  circumstances  in  which  the  savages 
are  living  may  make  it  too  troublesome  for  them  to 
maintain  a  breed.  The  following  account,  taken  from 
Mr.  Scott  Nind's  paper  on  the  Natives  of  King 
George's  Sound  in  Australia,  and  printed  in  the  first 
volume  of  the  Journal  of  the  Geographical  Society, 
is  particularly  to  the  point.     He  says  : — 


9— 


DOMESTICATION   OF   ANIMALS.  269 

"  In  the  chase  the  hunters  are  assisted  by  dogs,  which  they 
take  when  young  and  domesticate ;  but  they  take  little  pains  to 
train  them  to  any  particular  mode  of  hunting.  After  finding  a 
litter  of  young,  the  natives  generally  carry  away  one  or  two  to 
rear ;  in  this  case,  it  often  occurs  that  the  mother  will  trace  and 
attack  them ;  and,  being  large  and  very  strong,  she  is  rather  for- 
midable. At  some  periods,  food  is  so  scanty  as  to  compel  the 
dog  to  leave  his  master  and  provide  for  himself;  but  in  a  few 
days  he  generally  returns." 

I  have  also  evidence  that  this  custom  is  common  to 
the  wild  natives  of  other  parts  of  Australia. 

The  gregariousness  of  all  our  domestic  species  is, 
I  think,  the  primary  reason  why  some  of  them  are 
extinct  in  a  wild  state.  The  wild  herds  would  inter- 
mingle with  the  tame  ones,  some  would  become  ab- 
sorbed, the  others  would  be  killed  by  hunters,  who 
used  the  tame  cattle  as  a  shelter  to  approach  the 
wild.  Besides  this,  comfort-loving  animals  would  be 
less  suited  to  fight  the  battle  of  life  with  the  rest  of 
the  brute  creation ;  and  it  is  therefore  to  be  expected 
that  those  varieties  which  are  best  fitted  for  domes- 
tication, would  be  the  soonest  extinguished  in  a  wild 
state.  For  instance,  we  could  hardly  fancy  the  camel 
to  endure  in  a  land  where  there  were  large  wild 
beasts. 

Selection. — The  irreclaimably  wild  members  of 
every  flock  would  escape  and  be  utterly  lost;  the 
wilder  of  those  that  remained  would  assuredly  be 
selected  for  slaughter,  whenever  it  was  necessary  that 
one  of  the  flock  should  be  killed.  The  tamest  cattle 
— those  that  seldom  ran  away,  that  kept  the  flock 
together  and  led  them  homewards — would  be  pre- 


■■2e 


270  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN   FACULTY. 

served  alive  longer  than  any  of  the  others.  It  is 
therefore  these  that  chiefly  become  the  parents  of 
stock,  and  bequeath  their  domestic  aptitudes  to  the 
future  herd.  I  have  constantly  witnessed  this  process 
of  selection  among  the  pastoral  savages  of  South 
Africa,  I  believe  it  to  be  a  very  important  one,  on 
account  of  its  rigour  and  its  regularity.  It  must  have 
existed  from  the  earliest  times,  and  have  been  in  con- 
tinuous operation,  generation  after  generation,  down 
to  the  present  day. 

Exceptions. — I  have  already  mentioned  the  Afri- 
can elephant,  the  North  American  reindeer,  and  the 
apparent,  but  not  real  exception  of  the  North  Ameri- 
can Turkey.  I  should  add  the  ducks  and  geese  of 
North  America,  but  I  cannot  consider  them  in  the 
light  of  a  very  strong  case,  for  a  savage  who  constantly 
changes  his  home  is  not  likely  to  carry  aquatic  birds 
along  with  him.  Beyond  these  few,  I  know  of  no 
notable  exceptions  to  my  theory. 

Summary. 

I  see  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  first  domes- 
tication of  any  animal,  except  the  elephant,  implies  a 
high  civilisation  among  the  people  who  established  it. 
I  cannot  believe  it  to  have  been  the  result  of  a  pre- 
conceived intention,  followed  by  elaborate  trials,  to 
administer  to  the  comfort  of  man.  Neither  can  I 
think  it  arose  from  one  successful  effort  made  by  an 
individual,  who  might  thereby  justly  claim  the  title 
of  benefactor  to  his  race ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  a 


POSSIBILITIES    OF   THEOCRATIC   INTERVENTION.    271 

vast  number  of  half-unconscious  attempts  have  been 

made  throughout  the  course  of  ages,  and  that  ulti- 
©  ©    ' 

mately,  by  slow  degrees,  after  many  relapses,  and 
continued  selection,  our  several  domestic  breeds  be- 
came firmly  established. 

I  will  briefly  restate  what  appear  to  be  the  con- 
ditions under  which  wild  animals  may  become  domes- 
ticated: — 1,  they  should  be  hardy;  2,  they  should 
have  an  inborn  liking  for  man ;  3,  they  should  be 
comfort-loving  ;  4,  they  should  be  found  useful  to  the 
savages  ;  5,  they  should  breed  freely ;  6,  they  should 
be  easy  to  tend. 

It  would  appear  that  every  wild  animal  has  had 

its  chance  of  being  domesticated,  that  those  few  which 

fulfilled  the  above  conditions  were  domesticated  long 

© 

ago,  but  that  the  large  remainder,  who  fail  some- 
times in  only  one  small  particular,  are  destined  to 
perpetual  wildness  so  long  as  their  race  continues. 
As  civilisation  extends  they  are  doomed  to  be  gradu- 
ally destroyed  off  the  face  of  the  earth  as  useless  con- 
sumers of  cultivated  produce.  I  infer  that  slight 
differences  in  natural  dispositions  of  human  races 
may  in  one  case  lead  irresistibly  to  some  particular 
career,  and  in  another  case  may  make  that  career  an 
impossibility. 


Possibilities  of  Theocratic  Intervention. 

Any  attempt  to  appraise  the  relative  effects   of 
Nature  and  Nurture  may  be  objected  to.     It  may  be 


272  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

said  that  it  is  an  imperfect  and  fallacious  proceeding 
to  treat  the  actions  of  man  as  if  they  were  the  result 
of  no  other  influences  than  may  be  comprehended 
under  those  heads,  and  that  the  possibility  of  theo- 
cratic interference  must  not  be  overlooked,  whether 
it  take  place  in  response  to  prayer  or  independently 
of  it.  Such  an  objection  may  be  perfectly  valid 
when  the  influences  at  work  in  any  individual  case 
have  to  be  considered,  but  it  happily  does  not  apply 
to  statistical  averages  for  reasons  that  are  quite 
unconnected  with  theology,  and  which  I  will  explain 
and  illustrate.  Briefly,  it  is  the  very  purport  and 
claim  of  statistics  to  isolate  the  effect  of  specific  influ- 
ences from  all  others,  whether  known  or  unknown, 
that  may  act  concurrently  with  them. 

Suppose  a  large  number  of  silk-worms  to  be 
tended  by  a  caretaker,  and  that  an  observer  watched 
his  proceedings  as  well  as  he  could,  but  only  during 
the  day-time  and  through  a  telescope.  We  will  further 
suppose  his  observations  to  show  that  the  worms 
were  of  various  breeds,  and  that  they  were  fed  in 
various  ways,  irrespectively  of  their  breeds,  and  that 
the  observer  desired  to  discover  the  relative  effects 
of  breed  and  feeding  on  the  growth  of  the  worms. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  principle  on  which 
he  would  work ;  he  would  classify  his  observations 
so  as  to  compare  race  with  race,  and  he  would  re- 
classify them  to  compare  nurture  with  nurture.  By 
this  well-understood  treatment  he  would  isolate  the 
two  classes  of  influence. 

Now  suppose  the  caretaker  had  a  custom  wholly 


POSSIBILITIES    OF   THEOCRATIC    INTERVENTION.    273 

unknown  to  the  observer,  of  feeding  the  worms  in 
various  ways  during  the  night-time,  how  would  that 
affect  the  statistical  conclusions  ?  I  answer,  only  by 
increasing  the  amount  of  individual  deviations  from 
the  average  result,  so  that,  other  circumstances  re- 
maining the  same,  the  observer  would  not  attain  the 
same  constancy  in  his  averages  unless  the  number  of 
observations  in  his  groups  was  larger  than  before. 
Let  us  consider  the  ways  in  which  the  interference 
of  the  caretaker  might  act. 

(1.)  Suppose  he  favoured  a  particular  race  by 
giving  food  to  every  individual  of  it  during  the  night- 
time, then  the  effect  would  be  that  every  individual 
of  that  race,  by  virtue  of  his  belonging  to  the  race, 
would  be  benefited.  The  observer  who  noticed  the 
generally  thriving  condition  of  worms  of  that  race 
would  be  justified  in  accepting  it  as  a  racial  charac- 
teristic, for  it  would  be  the  consequence  of  the  race 
of  the  worm. 

(2.)  Suppose  the  caretaker  gave  additional  food 
in  the  night  to  the  particular  set  whom  he  had  fed 
the  best  during  the  day-time.  The  observer  would 
rightly  ascribe  the  more  or  less  thriving  condition  of 
that  set  to  the  peculiarities  of  their  nurture. 

(3.)  Suppose  the  caretaker  acted  conversely,  feed- 
ing those  in  the  night-time  whom  he  had  inadequately 
fed  in  the  day.  If  the  night  and  day  feeding  were 
of  equal  importance,  the  observer  would  find  the 
effects  of  Nurture  to  be  nil,  and  rightly  so.  If  they 
did  not  balance,  he  would  notice  the  differential 
effect. 


274  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN   FACULTY. 

Thus  far  we  see  that  the  relative  total  effects 
of  Nature  and  Nurture  would  have  been  rightly 
appraised.  We  see  at  the  same  time  that  the  effect 
of  any  particular  kind  of  Nurture  could  not  be  de- 
termined, because  the  whole  of  the  conditions  were 
not  under  observation. 

(4.)  Suppose  the  caretaker  to  feed  during  the 
night  certain  worms  that  he  had  marked  for  the 
purpose  in  a  manner  that  wholly  escaped  the  notice 
of  the  observer,  and  that  the  selection  of  the  worms 
that  were  marked  had  been  made  on  grounds  irre- 
spective both  of  their  breed  and  of  the  care  bestowed 
on  them  during  the  day-time.  The  result  would  be 
that  in  any  large  number  of  worms  grouped  either 
according  to  breed  or  to  the  observed  dietary,  the 
proportion  in  either  group  will  be  the  same  between 
those  who  thrive,  and  those  who  otherwise  would  not 
have  thriven,  consequently  the  relative  wellbeing  of 
the  two  groups  will  remain  unaltered.  Favour  or  dis- 
favour that  is  bestowed  irrespectively  of  breed  and 
of  nurture  cannot  influence  the  relative  effects  of  breed 
and  nurture  in  the  long  run. 

The  foregoing  arguments  cover  all  composite 
cases  where  the  influences  are  mixed,  therefore 
whether  there  be  any  unperceived  theocratic  inter- 
vention in  favour  of  particular  races,  or  of  indi- 
viduals irrespectively  of  race,  or  partly  in  one  way 
and  partly  in  another,  it  cannot  under  the  foregoing 
suppositions  vitiate  a  statistical  comparison  between 
the  relative  effects  of  Nature  and  Nurture,  it  being 
understood  that  "  Nature  "  refers  to  all  the  hereditary 


POSSIBILITIES   OF   THEOCRATIC   INTERVENTION.    275 

gifts  and  privileges  of  the  race,  including  constant 
theocratic  intervention  in  its  favour  during  the  period 
of  the  observations. 

There  is,  however,  a  fifth  supposition  which  I  feel 
somewhat  ashamed  to  record.  It  is  that  the  care- 
taker, knowing  he  was  watched  and  not  liking  it, 
devised  plans  for  defeating  the  observer.  I  fully 
acknowledge  that  he  could  easily  succeed  in  mislead- 
ing him.  The  homolostie  would  be  a  God  with  the 
attributes  of  a  Devil,  who  misled  humble  and  earnest 
inquirers  after  truth  by  malicious  artifice.  I  should 
not  have  dared  to  have  alluded  to  such  an  ignoble 
supposition,  had  not  Milton  himself  put  it  forward 
in  Paradise  Lost,  Bk.  viii.,  where  he  makes  Eaphael 
tell  Adam  that  God  "  did  wisely "  not  to  divulge  his 
secrets  to  be  scanned  by  those  who  ought  rather  to 
admire,  and  that  if  they  list  to  conjecture,  he  has 
perhaps  left  the  fabric  of  the  heavens  to  their  dis- 
putes to  "  move  his  laughter  "  at  their  quaint  opinions. 
I  think  the  passage  (which  was  written  before  New- 
ton's time)  must  have  jarred  on  the  hearts  of  many 
readers,  and  that  Milton's  supposition  of  such  a 
character  in  his  God  is  not  likely  to  be  adopted  by 
many  persons  at  the  present  time.  I  cannot  ima- 
gine a  more  cruel  and  wicked  act,  as  estimated  by 
the  modern  instinct  of  right  and  wrong,  than  that 
which  has  been  so  airily  suggested  by  Milton. 

We  have  thus  far  considered  the  effects  upon 
statistical  conclusions  of  possible  theocratic  interven- 


276  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

tion  when  given  unasked;  we  have  now  to  consider  that 
which  may  be  accorded  in  response  to  petitions.  The 
offering  of  devout  prayer  must  depend  either  on  the 
initiative  of  the  Deity  or  on  that  of  the  man.  The 
former  condition  has  just  been  disposed  of  under  the 
head  of  theocratic  intervention  unasked,  the  latter 
can  be  dealt  with  in  an  equally  simple  manner.  The 
desire  to  pray,  arising  independently  in  the  heart  of  a 
man,  must  be  due  either  to  his  natural  character  (that 
is,  to  his  nature),  to  the  external  circumstances  (all  of 
which  I  include  under  the  term  of  his  Nurture),  or  to 
his  free-will.  The  two  first  of  these  are  already  dis- 
posed of,  leaving  free-will  as  the  only  remaining  con- 
sideration. There  are  two  senses  to  the  word.  The 
popular  sense  is  caprice,  or  at  all  events  something 
that  acts  irrespectively  of  race  and  nurture  ;  it  there- 
fore falls  under  the  fourth  of  the  conditions  already 
disposed  of.  Another  sense  is  freedom  to  follow  one's 
bent,  the  bent  being  due  either  to  nature  or  to  cir- 
cumstances; these  cases  have  also  been  already  con- 
sidered. 

It  follows  from  what  has  been  said  that  theocratic 
intervention,  whether  in  response  to  prayer  or  given 
unasked,  cannot  affect  the  value  of  statistical  conclu- 
sions on  the  relative  total  effects  of  Nature  and  Nur- 
ture, unless  Milton's  horrible  supposition  be  seriously 
entertained. 


OBJECTIVE    EFFICACY    OF    PRAYER.  277 


Objective  Efficacy  of  Prayer. 

It  is  asserted  by  some,  that  men  possess  the  faculty 
of  obtaining  results  over  which  they  have  little  or 
no  direct  personal  control,  by  means  of  devout  and 
earnest  prayer,  while  others  doubt  the  truth  of  this 
assertion.  The  question  regards  a  matter  of  fact,  that 
has  to  be  determined  by  observation  and  not  by  author- 
ity ;  and  it  is  one  that  appears  to  be  a  very  suitable 
topic  for  statistical  inquiry. 

An  argument  in  favour  of  the  efficacy  of  prayer 
may  be  drawn  from  the  general  use  of  it.  The  greater 
part  of  mankind,  during  all  historic  ages,  have  been 
accustomed  to  pray  for  temporal  advantages.  How 
vain,  it  may  be  urged,  must  be  the  reasoning  that 
ventures  to  oppose  this  mighty  consensus  of  belief! 
Not  so  ;  the  argument  proves  too  much,  and  is  conse- 
quently suicidal.  It  either  compels  us  to  make  the 
monstrous  admission  that  the  prayers  of  pagans,  of 
fetich  worshippers,  and  of  Tibetians  who  turn  pray- 
ing-wheels, are  recompensed  in  the  same  way  as 
those  of  orthodox  believers  ;  or  else  the  consensus 
proves  that  it  has  no  better  foundation  than  the  very 
general  tendency  of  man  to  invest  his  God  with  the 
character  of  a  human  despot,  who  can  be  swayed  by 
entreaties  and  mollified  by  supplications. 

The  collapse  of  this  argument  leaves  us  solely 
concerned  with  the  simple  statistical  question — Are 
prayers  answered,  or  are  they  not  ?  There  are  two 
lines  of  research,  by  either  of  which  we  may  pursue 


278  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN   FACULTY. 

the  inquiry.  The  one  that  I  shall  follow,  promises 
the  most  trustworthy  results ;  it  is  to  examine  large 
classes  of  cases,  and  to  be  guided  by  broad  averages. 
The  other,  which  I  have  pursued  for  my  own  infor- 
mation, but  will  not  employ  in  these  pages,  is  to  deal 
with  isolated  and  remarkable  instances.  An  author 
who  made  use  of  it  would  certainly  run  the  risk  of 
being  susj)ected  of  choosing  one-sided  examples. 

The  principles  are  broad  and  simple  upon  which 
our  inquiry  into  the  efficacy  of  prayer  must  be  estab- 
lished. We  must  gather  cases  for  statistical  compari- 
son, in  which  the  same  object  is  keenly  pursued  by 
two  classes,  similar  in  their  physical  but  opposite  in 
their  spiritual  state ;  the  one  class  being  prayerful, 
the  other  materialistic.  Prudent  pious  people  must 
be  compared  with  prudent  materialistic  people,  and 
not  with  the  imprudent  nor  the  vicious,.  Secondly, 
we  have  no  regard,  in  this  inquiry,  to  the  course  by 
which  the  answer  to  prayers  may  be  supposed  to 
operate.  We  simply  look  to  the  final  result — whether 
those  who  pray  attain  their  objects  more  frequently 
than  those  who  do  not  pray,  but  who  live  in  all  other 
respects  under  similar  conditions.  Let  us  now  apply 
these  principles  to  different  cases. 

A  rapid  recovery  from  disease  may  be  conceived 
to  depend  on  many  causes  besides  the  reparative 
power  of  the  patient's  constitution.  A  miraculous 
quelling  of  the  disease  may  be  one  of  these  causes ; 
another  is  the  skill  of  the  physician,  or  of  the  nurse ; 
another  is  the  care  that  the  patient  takes  of  himself. 
In  our  inquiry  whether  prayerful  people  recover  more 


OBJECTIVE    EFFICACY    OF   PRAYER.  279 

rapidly  than  others,  we  need  not  complicate  the  ques- 
tion by  endeavouring  to  learn  the  channel  through 
which  the  patient's  prayer  may  have  reached  its  ful- 
filment. It  is  foreign  to  our  present  purpose  to  ask 
if  there  be  signs  of  a  miraculous  quelling  of  the  dis- 
ease, or  if,  through  special  intervention,  the  physician 
has  showed  unusual  wisdom,  or  the  nurse  or  the 
patient  unusual  discretion.  We  simply  look  to  the 
main  issue — do  sick  persons  who  pray,  or  are  prayed 
for,  recover  on  the  average  more  rapidly  than  others  ? 
It  appears  that,  in  all  countries  and  in  all  creeds, 
the  priests  urge  the  patient  to  pray  for  his  own 
recovery,  and  the  patient's  friends  to  aid  him  with 
their  prayers ;  but  that  the  doctors  make  no  account 
whatever  of  these  spiritual  agencies,  unless  the  office 
of  priest  and  medical  man  be  combined  in  the  same 
individual.  The  medical  works  of  modern  Europe 
teem  with  records  of  individual  illnesses  and  of  broad 
averages  of  disease,  but  I  have  discovered  hardly  any 
instance  in  which  a  medical  man  of  repute  has 
attributed  recovery  to  the  influence  of  prayer.  There 
is  not  a  single  instance,  to  my  knowledge,  in  which 
papers  read  before  statistical  societies  have  recognised 
the  agency  of  prayer  either  on  disease  or  on  anything 
else.  The  universal  habit  of  the  scientific  world  to 
ignore  the  power  of  prayer  is  a  very  important  fact. 
To  fully  appreciate  the  "  eloquence  of  the  silence  "  of 
medical  men,  we  must  bear  in  mind  the  care  with 
which  they  endeavour  to  assign  a  sanatory  value  to 
every  influence.  Had  prayers  for  the  sick  any 
notable  effect,  it  is  incredible  but  that  the  doctors, 


280  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

who  are  always  on  the  watch  for  such  things,  should 
have  observed  it,  and  added  their  influence  to  that 
of  the  priests  towards  obtaining  them  for  every  sick 
man.  If  they  abstain  from  doing  so,  it  is  not  because 
their  attention  has  never  been  awakened  to  the 
possible  efficacy  of  prayer,  but,  on  the  contrary,  that 
although  they  have  heard  it  insisted  on  from  childhood 
upwards,  they  are  unable  to  detect  its  influence.  As 
I  revise  these  lines,  it  happens  that  the  latest  number 
of  the  Journal  of  the  Statistical  Society  (September 
1882)  is  lying  on  my  table,  which  contains  an 
elaborate  inquiry  into  the  relative  mortality  after 
amputations  in  large  and  small  hospitals,  in  the  course 
of  which  quotations  are  made  from  other  painstaking 
investigators  of  the  same  subject.  There  is  a  column 
in  this  memoir  headed  "  Previous  State  of  Health," 
but  there  is  no  allusion  to  "  Devotional  Habits," 
though  if  there  had  been,  the  results  would  afford 
a  distinct  proof  of  the  efficacy  of  prayer,  if  it  existed 
to  even  a  minute  fraction  of  the  amount  that  religious 
teachers  exhort  us  to  believe.  The  medical  men  thus 
seem  to  disregard  its  agency  altogether.  Most  people 
have  some  general  belief  in  the  objective  efficacy  of 
prayer,  but  none  seem  willing  to  admit  its  action 
in  those  special  cases  of  which  they  have  scientific 
cognisance.1 

An  inquiry  may  be  made  into  the  longevity  of 

1  Since  I  wrote  this  an  article  has  appeared  in  the  Nineteenth 
Century,  October  1882,  by  R.  F.  Clarke,  S.J.,  in  which  it  is  asserted 
that  substantial  curative  effects  are  often  produced  by  pilgrimages  to 
Lourdes.     1  have  not  yet  examined  into  the  truth  of  this  statement. 


OBJECTIVE    EFFICACY    OF   PRAYEPw 


281 


persons  whose  lives  are  publicly  prayed  for,  and  into 
that  of  the  praying  classes  generally,  for  both  of 
which  cases  statistical  facts  exist  ready  at  hand.  The 
public  prayer  for  the  sovereign  of  every  state,  Pro- 
testant and  Catholic,  is  and  has  been  in  the  spirit  of 
our  own,  "  Grant  her  in  health  long  to  live."  Now, 
as  a  simple  matter  of  fact,  has  this  prayer  any  efficacy? 
There  is  a  memoir  by  Dr.  Guy,  in  the  Journal  of  the 
Statistical  Society  (vol.  xxii.  p.  355),  in  which  he 
compares  the  mean  age  of  sovereigns  with  that  of 
other  classes  of  persons.  His  results  are  expressed  in 
the  following  Table : — 

Mean  Age  attained  by  Males  of  various  Classes  who  had 
survived  their  30th  year,  from  1758  to  1843.  deaths  by 
Accident  or  Violence  are  excluded. 


Average. 

Eminent 
Men.1 

Members  of  Royal  houses 

97    in  number 

64-04 

Clergy           .... 

945            „ 

69-49 

66-42 

Lawyers       .... 

294            „ 

68-14 

66-51 

Medical  Profession 

244             „ 

67-31 

67-07 

English  Aristocracy 

1179            „ 

67-31 

... 

Gentry          .... 

1632             „ 

70-22 

Trade  and  Commerce 

513            „ 

68-74 

... 

Officers  in  the  Royal  Navy 

366            „ 

68-40 

... 

English  Literature  and  Science 

395            „ 

67-55 

65-22 

Officers  of  the  Army 

569             „ 

67-07 

... 

Fine  Arts     .... 

239            „ 

65-96 

64-74 

1  The    eminent    men    are    those    whose    lives   are   recorded   in 
Chalmers's  Biography,  with  some  additions  from  the  Annual  Register. 


282  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN   FACULTY. 

The  sovereigns  are  literally  the  shortest  lived  of  all 
who  have  the  advantage  of  affluence.  The  prayer  has 
therefore  no  efficacy,  unless  the  very  questionable 
hypothesis  be  raised,  that  the  conditions  of  royal  life 
may  naturally  be  yet  more  fatal,  and  that  their  influ- 
ence is  partly,  though  incompletely,  neutralised  by 
the  effect  of  public  prayers. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  same  table  collates  the 
longevity  of  clergy,  lawyers,  and  medical  men.  We 
are  justified  in  considering  the  clergy  to  be  a  far  more 
prayerful  class  than  either  of  the  other  two.  It  is 
their  profession  to  pray,  and  they  have  the  practice 
of  offering  morning  and  evening  family  prayers  in 
addition  to  their  public  devotions.  A  reference  to 
any  of  the  numerous  published  collections  of  family 
prayers  will  show  that  they  are  full  of  petitions  for 
temporal  benefits.  We  do  not,  however,  find  that 
the  clergy  are  in  any  way  more  long  lived  in  con- 
sequence. It  is  true  that  the  clergy,  as  a  whole, 
show  a  life- value  of  69*49,  as  against  68 "14  for  the 
lawyers,  and  67*31  for  the  medical  men;  but  the 
easy  country  life  and  family  repose  of  so  many  of  the 
clergy  are  obvious  sanatory  conditions  in  their  favour. 
This  difference  is  reversed  when  the  comparison  is 
made  between  distinguished  members  of  the  three 
classes — that  is  to  say,  between  persons  of  sufficient 
note  to  have  had  their  lives  recorded  in  a  biographical 
dictionary.  When  we  examine  this  category,  the 
value  of  life  among  the  clergy,  lawyers,  and  medical 
men  is  as  66'42,  66'51,  and  67'04  respectively,  the 
clergy  being  the  shortest  lived  of  the  three.     Hence 


OBJECTIVE    EFFICACY    OF   PRAYER.  283 

the  prayers  of  the  clergy  for  protection  against  the 
perils  and  clangers  of  the  night,  for  security  during 
the  day,  and  for  recovery  from  sickness,  appear  to  be 
futile  in  result. 

In  my  work  on  Hereditary  Genius,  and  in  the 
chapter  on  "  Divines,"  I  have  worked  out  the  subject 
of  their  general  well-being  with  some  minuteness,  and 
with  precisely  the  same  result.  I  showed  that  the 
divines  are  not  specially  favoured  in  those  worldly 
matters  for  which  they  naturally  pray,  but  rather  the 
contrary,  a  fact  which  I  ascribed  in  part  to  their 
having,  as  a  class,  indifferent  constitutional  vigour.  I 
gave  abundant  reason  for  all  this,  and  do  not  care 
to  repeat  myself;  but  I  should  be  glad  if  such  of  my 
readers  as  may  be  accustomed  to  statistics,  would 
refer  to  the  chapter  I  have  mentioned.  They  will 
find  it  of  use  in  confirming  what  I  say  here.  They 
will  believe  me  the  more  when  I  say  that  I  have  taken 
considerable  pains  to  get  at  the  truth  in  the  question 
raised  in  this  present  inquiry,  and  that,  when  I  was 
engaged  upon  it,  I  worked,  so  far  as  my  material 
went,  with  as  much  care  as  I  gave  to  that  chapter 
on  "Divines;"  and  lastly  I  should  add  that,  when 
writing  that  chapter,  I  had  all  this  material  by  me 
unused,  which  justified  me  in  speaking  out  as  de- 
cidedly as  I  did  then. 

A  further  inquiry  may  be  made  into  the  duration 
of  life  among  missionaries.  We  should  lay  greater 
stress  upon  their  mortality  than  upon  that  of  the 
clergy,  because  the  laudable  object  of  a  missionary's 
career    is    rendered   almost  nugatory   by   his    early 


284  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN   FACULTY. 

death.  A  man  goes,  say  to  a  tropical  climate,  in 
the  prime  of  manhood,  who  had  the  probability  of 
many  years  of  useful  life  before  him  at  home.  He  has 
the  certainty  of  being  able  to  accomplish  sterling  good 
as  a  missionary,  if  he  should  live  long  enough  to  learn 
the  language  and  habits  of  the  country.  In  the  in- 
terval he  is  almost  useless.  Yet  the  painful  experi- 
ence of  many  years  shows  only  too  clearly  that  the 
missionary  is  not  supernaturally  endowed  with  health. 
He  does  not  live  longer  than  other  people.  One 
missionary  after  another  dies  shortly  after  his  arrival. 
The  work  that  lay  almost  within  the  grasp  of  each  of 
them  lingers  incompleted. 

It  must  here  be  repeated,  that  comparative  im- 
munity from  disease  compels  the  suspension  of  no 
purely  material  law,  if  such  an  expression  be  per- 
mitted. Tropical  fever,  for  example,  is  due  to  many 
subtle  causes  that  are  partly  under  man's  control. 
A  single  hour's  exposure  to  sun,  or  wet,  or  fatigue,  or 
mental  agitation  will  determine  an  attack.  If  the 
action  in  response  to  prayer  had  been  directed  only  on 
the  minds  of  the  missionaries,  that  action  might  be  as 
much  to  the  advantage  of  their  health  as  if  a  physical 
miracle  had  been  wrought.  They  might  receive  a 
disinclination  to  take  those  courses  which  would  result 
in  mischance,  such  as  the  forced  march,  the  wetting, 
the  abstinence  from  food,  or  the  night  exposure.  We 
must  not  dwell  upon  the  circumstances  of  individual 
cases,  and  say,  "  this  was  a  providential  escape,"  or 
"  that  was  a  salutary  chastisement,"  but  we  must 
take  the  broad  averages  of  mortality,  and,  when  we 


OBJECTIVE    EFFICACY    OF    PRAYER.  285 

do  so,  we  find  that  the  missionaries  do  not  form  a 
favoured  class. 

The  efficacy  of  prayer  may  yet  further  be  tested 
by  inquiry  into  the  proportion  of  deaths  at  the  time 
of  birth  among  the  children  of  the  praying  and  the 
non- praying  classes.  The  solicitude  of  parents  is 
so  powerfully  directed  towards  the  safety  of  their 
expected  offspring  as  to  leave  no  room  to  doubt  that 
pious  parents  pray  fervently  for  it,  especially  as  death 
before  baptism  is  considered  a  most  serious  evil  by 
many  Christians.  However,  the  distribution  of  still- 
births appears  wholly  unaffected  by  piety.  The  pro- 
portion, for  instance,  of  the  still-births  published  in 
the  Record  newspaper  and  in  the  Times  was  found  by 
me,  on  an  examination  of  a  particular  period,  to  bear 
an  identical  relation  to  the  total  number  of  deaths. 
This  inquiry  might  easily  be  pursued  by  those  who 
considered  that  more  ample  evidence  was  required. 

When  we  pray  in  our  Liturgy  "  that  the  nobility 
may  be  endued  with  grace,  wisdom,  and  understand- 
ing," we  pray  for  that  which  is  clearly  incompatible 
with  insanity.  Does  that  frightful  scourge  spare  our 
nobility  ?  Does  it  spare  very  religious  people  more 
than  others  ?  The  answer  is  an  emphatic  negative  to 
both  of  these  questions.  The  nobility,  probably  from 
the  want  of  wholesome  restraints  felt  in  humbler 
walks  of  life,  and  very  religious  people  of  all  deno- 
minations, probably  in  part  from  their  meditations 
on  the  terrors  of  hell,  are  peculiarly  subject  to  it. 
Religious  madness  is  very  common  indeed ;  I  have 
already  referred  to  this. 


286  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

As  I  have  already  hinted,  I  do  not  propose  any 
special  inquiry  whether  the  general  laws  of  physi- 
cal nature  are  ever  changed  in  response  to  prayer : 
whether,  for  instance,  success  has  attended  the  occa- 
sional prayers  in  the  Liturgy  when  they  have  been 
used  for  rain,  for  fair  weather,  for  the  stilling  of  the 
sea  in  a  storm,  or  for  the  abatement  of  a  pestilence. 
The  modern  feeling  of  this  country  is  so  opposed  to 
a  belief  in  the  occasional  suspension  of  the  general 
laws  of  nature,  that  most  English  readers  would 
smile  at  such  an  investigation.  If  we  are  satisfied 
that  the  actions  of  man  are  not  influenced  by  prayer, 
through  the  subtle  influences  of  his  thoughts  and  will 
the  only  probable  form  of  agency  will  have  been  dis- 
proved, and  no  one  would  care  to  advance  a  claim  in 
favour  of  direct  physical  interferences.  I  may,  how- 
ever, add  that  I  have  some  knowledge  of  meteorolo- 
gical science,  and  access  to  the  numerous  publications 
upon  it  in  this  and  other  countries,  and  that  I  am 
unaware  of  any  writer  remarking  that  the  distribution 
of  weather  has,  on  any  occasion,  been  modified  by 
national  prayer.  The  subject  of  the  influence  of 
prayer  for  rain  or  for  fine  weather,  has  never,  so  far 
as  I  know,  been  alluded  to  in  any  meteorological 
memoir. 

Biographies  do  not  show  that  devotional  in- 
fluences have  clustered  in  any  remarkable  degree 
round  the  youth  of  those  who,  whether  by  their 
talents  or  social  position,  have  left  a  mark  upon  our 
English  history.  Lord  Campbell  in  his  preface  to 
the   Lives  of  the   Chancellors,   says,  "  There   is   no 


OBJECTIVE    EFFICACY    OF   PKAYER.  287 

office  in  the  history  of  any  nation  that  has  been 
filled  with  such  a  Ions;  succession  of  distinguished 
and  interesting  men  as  the  office  of  Lord  Chancellor," 
and  that,  "  generally  speaking,  the  most  eminent 
men,  if  not  the  most  virtuous,  have  been  selected 
to  adorn  it."  His  implied  disparagement  of  their 
piety  as  a  class,  up  to  very  recent  times,  is  fully 
sustained  by  an  examination  of  their  respective 
biographies,  and  by  a  taunt  of  Horace  Walpole, 
quoted  in  the  same  preface.  An  equal  absence  of 
remarkable  devotional  tendencies  may  be  observed 
in  the  lives  of  the  leaders  of  the  political  parties 
of  former  generations.  The  founders  of  our  great 
families  too  often  owed  their  advancement  to  tricky 
and  time-serving  courtiership.  The  belief  so  fre- 
quently expressed  in  the  Psalms,  that  the  descendants 
of  the  righteous  shall  continue,  and  that  those  of  the 
wicked  shall  surely  fail,  is  not  fulfilled  in  the  history 
of  our  English  peerage.  Take,  for  instance,  the 
highest  class,  that  of  the  ducal  houses.  The  in- 
fluence of  social  position  in  this  country  has  been 
so  enormous  that  the  possession  of  a  dukedom 
is  a  power  that  can  hardly  be  understood  without 
some  sort  of  calculation.  There  are  only  twenty- 
eight  dukes  to  about  nine  millions  of  adult  male 
Englishmen,  or  less  than  one  duke  to  each  three 
hundred  thousand  men,  yet  the  cabinet  of  fourteen 
ministers  which  governs  this  country,  and  India  too, 
has  commonly  contained  one  duke,  often  two,  and  in 
recent  times  three.  The  political  privilege  inherited 
with  a  dukedom  in  this  country  is  at   the   lowest 


288  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

estimate  many  thousandfold  above  the  average 
birthright  of  Englishmen.  What  was  the  origin  of 
these  ducal  families  whose  influence  on  the  destiny 
of  England  and  her  dependencies  is  so  enormous  1 
Were  their  founders  the  eminently  devout  children 
of  eminently  pious  parents  ?  Have  they  and  their 
ancestors  been  distinguished  among  the  praying 
classes  ?  Not  so.  I  give  in  a  footnote l  a  list  of 
their  names,  which  recalls  many  a  deed  of  patriotism, 
valour,  and  skill,  many  an  instance  of  eminent  merit, 
of  the  worldly  sort,  which  we  Englishmen  honour 
six  days  out  of  the  seven — many  scandals,  many 
a  disgrace,  but  not,  on  the  other  hand,  a  single  in- 
stance known  to  me  of  eminently  prayerful  qualities. 
Four  at  least  of  the  existing  ducal  houses  are  unable 
to  claim  the  title  of  having  been  raised  into  existence 
through  the  devout  habits  of  their  progenitors,  be- 
cause the  families  of  Buccleuch,  Grafton,  St.  Albans, 
and  Richmond  were  thus  highly  ennobled  solely  on 
the  ground  of  their  being  descended  from  Charles  II. 
and  four  of  his  mistresses,  namely,  Lucy  Walters, 
Barbara  Villiers,  Nell  Gwynne,  and  Louise  de  Que- 
rouaille.  The  dukedom  of  Cleveland  may  almost  be 
reckoned  as  a  fifth  instance. 

The  civil  liberty  we  enjoy  in  England,  and  the 
energy  of  our  race,  have  given  rise  to  a  number  of 
institutions,  societies,  commercial  adventures,  political 

1  Abercorn,  Argyll,  Athole,  Beaufort,  Bedford,  Buccleuch,  Buck- 
ingham, Cleveland,  Devonshire,  Grafton,  Hamilton,  Leeds,  Leinster, 
Manchester,  Marlborough,  Montrose,  Newcastle,  Norfolk,  Northum- 
berland, Portland,  Richmond  and  Gordon,  Roxburghe,  Rutland,  St. 
Albans,  Somerset,  Sutherland,  Wellington,  Westminster. 


OBJECTIVE   EFFICACY   OF   PRAYER.  289 

meetings,  and  combinations  of  all  sorts.  Some  of 
these  are  exclusively  clerical,  some  lay,  and  others 
mixed.  It  is  impossible  for  a  person  to  have  taken 
an  active  share  in  social  life  without  having  had 
abundant  means  of  estimating  for  himself,  and  of 
hearing  the  opinion  of  others,  on  the  value  of  a  pre- 
ponderating clerical  element  in  business  committees. 
For  my  own  part,  I  never  heard  a  favourable  one. 
The  procedure  of  convocation,  which,  like  all  exclu- 
sively clerical  meetings,  is  opened  with  prayer,  has 
not  inspired  the  outer  world  with  much  respect.  The 
histories  of  the  great  councils  of  the  Church  are  most 
painful  to  read.  A  devout  man  who  believes  his 
thoughts  to  be  inspired,  necessarily  accredits  his  pre- 
judices with  divine  authority.  He  is  therefore  little 
accessible  to  argument,  and  is  intolerant  of  those 
whose  opinions  differ  from  his  own,  especially  on  first 
principles.  Consequently,  he  is  a  bad  coadjutor  in 
business  matters.  It  is  a  common  -week-day  opinion 
of  the  world  that  praying  people  are  not  practical. 

Again,  there  is  a  large  class  of  instances  where 
an  enterprise  on  behalf  of  pious  people  is  executed 
by  the  agency  of  the  profane.  Do  such  enterprises 
prosper  beyond  the  average  ?  For  instance,  a  vessel 
on  a  missionary  errand  is  navigated  by  ordinary 
seamen.  We  do  not  care  to  ask  whether  the  result 
of  these  prayers  is  to  obtain  favourable  winds,  but 
simply  whether  they  ensue  in  a  propitious  voyage, 
whatever  may  have  been  the  agencies  by  which  that 
result  was  obtained.  The  success  of  voyages  might 
be  due  to  many  other  agencies  than  the  suspension 

u 


290  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

of  the  physical  laws  that  control  the  winds  and 
currents  ;  just  as  we  showed  that  a  rapid  recovery 
from  illness  might  be  due  to  other  causes  than  a  direct 
interference  with  cosmic  order.  It  mio;ht  have  been 
put  into  the  caj)tain's  heart  to  navigate  in  that 
course  and  to  perform  those  acts  of  seamanship  which 
proved  links  in  a  chain  that  led  to  eventual  success. 
A  very  small  matter  would  suffice  to  make  a  great 
difference  in  the  end.  A  vessel  navigated  by  a  man 
who  was  a  good  forecaster  of  weather  would  consi- 
derably outstrip  another  that  was  deficient  in  so 
accomplished  a  commander,  but  otherwise  similarly 
equipped.  The  perfectly  instructed  navigator  would 
deviate  from  the  usual  course  by  perhaps  some  mere 
trifle,  first  here,  then  there,  in  order  to  bring  his  vessel 
within  favouring  slants  of  wind  and  advantageous 
currents.  A  ship  commanded  by  a  captain  and 
steered  by  a  sailor  whose  hearts  were  miraculously 
acted  upon  in  answer  to  prayer  would  unconsciously 
as  by  instinct,  or  even  as  it  were  by  mistake,  perform 
these  deviations  from  routine,  which  would  lead  to 
ultimate  success. 

The  missionaries  who  are  the  most  earnestly  prayed 
for  are  usually  those  who  sail  on  routes  where  there 
is  little  traffic,  and  therefore  where  there  is  more  oppor- 
tunity for  the  effects  of  secret  providential  overruling 
to  display  themselves  than  among  those  who  sail  in 
ordinary  sea  voyages.  In  the  usual  sea  routes  a  great 
deal  is  known  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  seasons  and 
currents,  and  of  the  whereabouts  of  hidden  dangers  of 
all  kinds  ;  the  average  risk  of  the  ships  that  traverse 


OBJECTIVE  EFFICACY  OF  PRAYER.       291 

them  is  small,  and  the  insurance  is  low.  But  when 
vessels  are  bound  to  ports  like  those  sought  by  the 
missionaries  the  case  is  different.  The  risk  that 
attends  their  voyages  is  largely  increased,  and  the 
insurance  is  proportionately  raised.  But  is  the 
risk  equally  increased  in  respect  to  missionary  ves- 
sels and  to  those  of  traders  and  of  slave -dealers  ? 
The  comparison  between  the  fortune  that  attends 
prayerful  and  non-prayerful  people  may  here  be  most 
happily  made.  The  missionaries  are  eminently  among 
the  former  category,  and  the  slave-dealers  and  the 
traders  we  speak  of  in  the  other.  Traders  in  the  un- 
healthy and  barbarous  regions  to  which  we  refer  are 
notoriously  the  most  godless  and  reckless  (on  the  broad 
average)  of  any  of  their  set.  We  have,  unfortunately, 
little  knowledge  of  the  sea  risks  of  slavers,  because  the 
rates  of  their  insurance  involve  the  risk  of  capture. 
There  is,  however,  a  universal  testimony,  in  the  Par- 
liamentary reports  on  slavery,  to  the  excellent  and 
skilful  manner  in  which  these  vessels  are  sailed  and 
navigated,  which  is  a  primd  facie  reason  for  believing 
their  sea  risks  to  be  small.  As  to  the  relative  risks 
run  by  ordinary  traders  and  missionary  vessels,  the 
insurance  offices  absolutely  ignore  the  slightest  differ- 
ence between  them.  They  look  to  the  class  of  the 
vessel,  and  to  the  station  to  which  she  is  bound,  and 
to  nothing  else.  The  notion  that  a  missionary  or  other 
pious  enterprise  carries  any  immunity  from  danger  has 
never  been  entertained  by  insurance  companies. 

To  proceed  with  our  inquiry,  whether  enterprises 
on  behalf  of  pious  people  succeed  better  than  others 


292  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN   FACULTY. 

when  they  are  entrusted  to  profane  hands,  we  may  ask, 
— Is  a  bank  or  other  commercial  undertaking  more 
secure  when  devout  men  are  among  its  shareholders, 
or  when  the  funds  of  pious  people,  of  charities,  or 
of  religious  bodies  are  deposited  in  its  keeping,  as 
in  the  Uniou  Generale,  or  when  its  proceedings  are 
opened  with  prayer,  as  was  the  case  with  the  disastrous 
Royal  British  Bank  ?  It  is  impossible  to  say  yes. 
There  are  far  too  many  sad  experiences  of  the  con- 
trary. 

If  prayerful  habits  had  influence  on  temporal  suc- 
cess, it  is  very  probable,  as  I  must  again  repeat,  that 
insurance  offices,  of  at  least  some  desertions,  would 
long  ago  have  discovered  and  made  allowance  for  it. 
It  would  be  most  unwise,  from  a  business  point  of  view, 
to  allow  the  devout,  supposing  their  greater  longevity 
even  probable,  to  obtain  annuities  at  the  same  low 
rates  as  the  profane.  Before  insurance  offices  accept  a 
life,  they  make  confidential  inquiries  into  the  antece- 
dents of  the  applicant,  and  a  schedule  has  to  be  filled 
up.  But  such  a  question,  or  such  a  heading  to  a  column 
of  the  schedule,  has  never  been  heard  of  as,  "  Does  he 
habitually  use  family  prayers  and  private  devotions  ?" 
Insurance  offices,  so  wakeful  to  sanatory  influences, 
absolutely  ignore  prayer  as  one  of  them.  The  same  is 
true  for  insurances  of  all  descriptions,  as  those  con- 
nected with  fire,  ships,  lightning,  hail,  accidental  death, 
and  cattle  sickness.  How  is  it  possible  to  explain  why 
Quakers,  who  are  most  devout  and  most  shrewd  men 
of  business,  have  ignored  these  considerations,  except 
on  the  ground  that  they  do  not  really  believe  in  what 


OBJECTIVE   EFFICACY    OF    PRAYER.  293 

they  and  others  freely  assert  about  the  efficacy  of 
prayer  ?  It  was  at  one  time  considered  an  act  of  mis- 
trust in  an  overruling  Providence  to  put  lightning 
conductors  on  churches  ;  for  it  was  said  that  God  would 
surely  take  care  of  His  own.  But  Arago's  collection 
of  the  accidents  from  lightning  showed  they  were  sorely 
needed  ;  and  now  lightning  conductors  are  universal. 
Other  kinds  of  accidents  befall  churches,  equally  with 
other  buildings  of  the  same  class  ;  such  as  architectural 
flaws,  resulting  in  great  expenses  for  repair,  fires,  earth- 
quakes, and  avalanches. 

The  cogency  of  all  these  arguments  is  materially 
increased  by  the  recollection  that  many  items  of  ancient 
faith  have  been  successively  abandoned  by  the  Chris- 
tian world  to  the  domain  of  recognised  superstition. 
It  is  not  two  centuries  ago,  long  subsequent  to  the 
days  of  Shakespeare  and  other  great  men  whose 
opinions  still  educate  our  own,  that  the  sovereign  of 
this  country  was  accustomed  to  lay  hands  on  the  sick 
for  their  recovery,  under  the  sanction  of  a  regular 
Church  service,  which  was  not  omitted  from  our  prayer- 
books  till  the  time  of  George  II.  Witches  were  unani- 
mously believed  in,  and  were  regularly  exorcised,  and 
punished  by  law,  up  to  the  beginning  of  the  last  cen- 
tury. Ordeals  and  duels,  most  reasonable  solutions 
of  complicated  difficulties  according  to  the  popular 
theory  of  religion,  were  found  untrustworthy  in  prac- 
tice. The  miraculous  power  of  relics  and  images,  still 
so  general  in  Southern  Europe,  is  scouted  in  England. 
The  importance  ascribed  to  dreams,  the  barely  extinct 
claims  of  astrology,  and  auguries  of  good  or  evil  luck, 


294  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

and  many  other  well-known  products  of  superstition 
which  are  found  to  exist  in  every  country,  have  ceased 
to  be  believed  in  by  us.  This  is  the  natural  course  of 
events,  just  as  the  Waters  of  Jealousy  and  the  Urim 
and  Thummim  of  the  Mosaic  law  had  become  obsolete 
in  the  times  of  the  later  Jewish  kino;s.  The  civilised 
world  has  already  yielded  an  enormous  amount  of 
honest  conviction  to  the  inexorable  requirements  of 
solid  fact ;  and  it  seems  to  me  clear  that  all  belief  in 
the  efficacy  of  prayer,  in  the  sense  in  which  I  have 
been  considering  it,  must  be  yielded  also.  The  evi- 
dence I  have  been  able  to  collect  bears  wholly  and 
solely  in  that  direction,  and  in  the  face  of  it  the  onus 
probandi  must  henceforth  lie  on  the  other  side. 


Enthusiasm. 


The  changed  meaning  of  the  word  Enthusiasm  is 
an  example  of  the  change  of  belief  in  modern  times. 
Its  ancient  meaning  was  its  literal  one,  "  God-in-us," 
its  modern  meaning  is  "  ardent  zeal."  I  notice  that 
its  definition  in  a  recent  dictionary  is  "a  belief  or 
conceit  of  private  revelation ;  the  vain  confidence  or 
opinion  of  a  person  that  he  has  special  divine  com- 
munications from  the  Supreme  Being,  or  familiar  inter- 
course with  him."  On  the  other  hand,  the  belief  of 
devout  persons  that  they  really  commune  in  their 
hearts  with  God,  that  he  put  holy  ideas  and  affections 
into  their  minds,  and  inspires  them  with  good  resolves, 
is  by  no  means  in  their  opinion  a  vain  conceit  or  con- 


ENTHUSIASM.  295 

fidence.  To  a  large  number  of  the  ablest  class  of  man- 
kind the  idea  of  an  indwelling  divine  Spirit  is  so 
habitual  and  vivid  as  to  be  an  axiomatic  truth  to  them. 
If  their  views  are  correct  that  the  germs  of  a  faculty 
of  communing  with  an  unseen  world  exists  in  man, 
and  much  more  abundantly  in  some  persons  than  in 
others,  then,  considering  that  this  devout  persuasion 
runs  in  families,  as  I  have  fully  shown  in  Hereditary 
Genius,  it  would  follow  that  those  races  should  be 
encouraged  that  are  characterised  by  spiritual-minded- 
ness,  and  who  would  be  far  more  worthy  occupants 
of  the  earth  than  the  generality  of  ourselves. 

It  has  been  to  me  a  real  and  almost  life -long  sub- 
ject of  thought,  whether  or  no  and  to  what  degree  the 
strong  subjective  views  of  the  pious  are  trustworthy. 
It  has  been  the  motive  of  many  of  the  inquiries  in  this 
book,  for  it  seems  to  me  a  cardinal  one  in  any  question 
of  the  improvement  of  race,  Should  we  keep  it  before 
us  as  an  object  of  endeavour,  that  future  generations 
may  be  generally  endowed  with  faculties  such  as  will 
enable  them  really  to  hold  as  free  communion  with  a 
Deity  as  the  more  spiritually-minded  of  our  race  pro- 
fess to  enjoy  at  the  present  time  ?  or  is  the  opinion 
held  by  the  pious  as  to  the  existence  of  those  faculties, 
no  more  than  a  vain  conceit  and  confidence,  as  the 
dictionary  definition  just  quoted  would  have  it  to  be  ? 

There  is  no  subject  more  worthy  of  reverent  but 
thorough  investigation  than  the  objective  evidence  for 
or  against  the  existence  of  inspiration  from  an  unseen 
world,  and  none  that  up  to  the  present  time  has  so 
tantalised  the  anxious  and  honest  inquirer  with  unper- 


296  INQUIRIES   INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

formed  promises  of  solution.  The  arguments  scattered 
or  hinted  at  throughout  this  book  are  negative  so  far 
as  they  go,  but  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  they 
would  be  scattered  to  the  winds  by  solid  objective 
evidence  on  the  other  side,  such  as  could  be  seriously 
entertained  by  scientific  men  desiring  above  all  things 
to  arrive  at  truth. 

Among  the  arguments  of  which  I  speak,  there  was 
evidence  that  persons  in  sound  health  were  liable  to 
see  visions  of  an  apparently  objective  character,  and 
to  hear  voices  that  seemed  external,  all  of  these  hallu- 
cinations apparently  belonging  to  the  same  order  of 
phenomena.  I  also  showed  that  their  existing  cause 
could  in  some  instances  be  traced  with  more  or  less 
certainty ;•  that  many  of  these  visions  and  voices 
were  meaningless  or  absurd ;  and  that  there  was  not 
the  slightest  ground  for  accrediting  the  majority  of 
them  to  any  exalted  or  external  source.  Similarly,  I 
showed  that  the  fluency  of  ordinary  speakers  and 
writers  proceeds  in  an  automatic  way,  without  its 
being  imputed  to  inspiration ;  but  that  when  such 
speakers  or  writers  are  exercised  upon  devout  sub- 
jects, they  are  apt  to  suppose  the  thoughts  that  then 
arise  to  be  inspired,  although  it  would  seem  to  a 
bystander  that  all  fluency  has  the  same  general 
origin. 

I  also  pointed  out  that  it  is  among  those  hysterical 
or  insane  persons  in  whom  the  sexual  organisation  is 
disturbed,  that  the  extreme  forms  of  religious  rapture 
chiefly  prevail  ;  that  the  passion  of  love  has  many 
strange  metamorphoses,  and  that  life  and  love  in  some 


ENTHUSIASM.  297 

form,  and  with  its  customary  illusions,  can  hardly  be 
separated  in  a  healthy  and  perfect  animal. 

An  instance  of  the  purely  physiological  origin  of 
ideas  was  seen  in  those  twins  who  are  characterised 
by  simultaneity  of  conceptions ;  the  same  notion 
occurring  at  the  same  moment  to  both,  and  both 
responding  in  nearly  the  same  words  and  at  the 
same  moment  to  the  person  who  addresses  them,  so 
that  the  twins  appear  like  a  double  individual. 

I  have  further  shown  in  many  ways  how  little 
trust  can  be  placed  in  axiomatic  belief.  For  example, 
certain  natural  oddities  of  mind,  such  as  the  percep- 
tion of  number-forms  and  of  colours  associated  with 
sounds,  always  appear  to  be  axiomatic  necessities  to 
those  who  perceive  them,  and  so  do  many  of  the 
sentiments  that  were  instilled  in  early  life..  I  have 
also  pointed  out  the  necessary  untrustworthiness  of 
conscience  in  some  particulars. 

Lastly,  it  appears  to  be  tacitly  recognised  by  all, 
that  the  absolute  and  final  court  of  appeal  is  not 
subjective  but  objective.  It  is  therefore  not  upon  our 
instinctive  convictions  or  fancies  that  we  should  lay 
most  trust,  but  we  should  observe  the  convictions  and 
fancies  of  others  as  well  as  our  own,  and  assign  no  less 
trustworthiness  to  them.  Especially  should  wTe  test 
the  truth  of  all  convictions,  whenever  it  is  possible 
to  do  so,  by  appeal  to  such  facts  as  may  admit  of 
repetition,  for  the  purpose  of  verification  either  by 
ourselves  or  by  others  ;  experience  showing  that,  in 
the  long  run,  the  supremacy  of  such  facts  becomes 
universally   acknowledged.      Above   all    things,    we 


298  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

must  be  content  to  suspend  our  belief  and  maintain 
the  freedom  of  our  mental  attitude,  wherever  there 
is  strong  reason  for  doubt.  When  there  is  stormy 
weather  and  no  secure  harbour,  the  sailors  put  out  to 
sea;  it  is  not  anchorage  they  then  want,  but  sea- 
room. 

There  is  nothing  in  any  hesitation  that  may  be 
felt  as  to  the  possibility  of  receiving  help  and  inspira- 
tion from  an  unseen  world,  to  discredit  the  practice 
that  is  dearly  prized  by  most  of  us,  of  withdrawing 
from  the  crowd  and  entering  into  quiet  communion 
with  our  hearts,  until  the  agitations  of  the  moment 
have  calmed  down,  and  the  distorting  mirage  of  a 
worldly  atmosphere  has  subsided,  and  the  greater 
objects  and  more  enduring  affections  of  our  life  have 
reappeared  in  their  due  proportions.  We  may  then 
take  comfort  and  find  support  in  the  sense  of  our 
forming  part  of  whatever  has  existed  or  will  exist, 
and  this  need  be  the  motive  of  no  idle  reverie,  but 
of  an  active  conviction  that  we  possess  an  influence 
which  may  be  small  but  cannot  be  inappreciable,  in 
defining  the  as  yet  undetermined  possibilities  of  an 
endless  future.  It  may  inspire  a  vigorous  resolve  to 
use  all  the  intelligence  and  perseverance  we  can 
command  to  fulfil  our  part  as  members  of  one  great 
family  that  strives  as  a  whole  towards  a  fuller  and  a 
higher  life. 


the  observed  order  of  events.  299 

The  Observed  Order  of  Events. 

There  is  nothing  as  yet  observed  in  the  order  of 
events  to  make  us  doubt  that  the  universe  is  bound 
together  in  space  and  time,  as  a  single  entity,  and 
there  is  a  concurrence  of  many  observed  facts  to 
induce  us  to  accept  that  view.  We  may,  therefore, 
not  unreasonably  profess  faith  in  a  common  and  mys- 
terious whole,  and  of  the  laborious  advance,  under 
many  restrictions,  of  that  infinitely  small  part  of  it 
which  Mis  under  our  observation,  but  which  is  in 
itself  enormously  large,  and  behind  which  lies  the 
awful  mystery  of  the  origin  of  all  existence. 

The  conditions  that  direct  the  order  of  the  whole 
of  the  living  world  around  us,  are  marked  by  their 
persistence  in  improving  the  birthright  of  successive 
generations.  They  determine,  at  much  cost  of  indi- 
vidual comfort,  that  each  plant  and  animal  shall  on 
the  general  average,  be  endowed  at  its  birth  with 
more  suitable  natural  faculties  than  those  of  its  repre- 
sentative in  the  preceding  generation.  They  ensure, 
in  short,  that  the  inborn  qualities  of  the  terrestrial 
tenantry  shall  become  steadily  better  adapted  to  their 
homes  and  to  their  mutual  needs.  This  effect,  be 
it  understood,  is  not  only  favourable  to  the  animals 
who  live  long  enough  to  become  parents,  but  is  also 
favourable  to  those  who  perish  in  earlier  life,  because 
even  they  are  on  the  whole  better  off  during  their 
brief  career  than  if  they  had  been  born  still  less 
adapted  to  the  conditions  of  their  existence.     If  we 


300  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

summon  before  our  imagination  in  a  single  mighty 
host,  the  whole  number  of  living  things  from  the 
earliest  date  at  which  terrestrial  life  can  be  deemed 
to  have  probably  existed,  to  the  latest  future  at 
which  we  may  think  it  can  probably  continue,  and 
if  we  cease  to  dwell  on  the  miscarriages  of  indi- 
vidual lives  or  of  single  generations,  we  shall  plainly 
perceive  that  the  actual  tenantry  of  the  world  pro- 
gresses in  a  direction  that  may  in  some  sense  be 
described  as  the  greatest  happiness  of  the  greatest 
number. 

We  also  remark  that  while  the  motives  by  which 
individuals  in  the  lowest  stages  are  influenced  are 
purely  self  regarding,  they  broaden  as  evolution  goes 
on.  The  word  "self"  ceases  to  be  wholly  personal, 
and  begins  to  include  subjects  of  affection  and 
interest,  and  these  become  increasingly  numerous  as 
intelligence  and  depth  of  character  develop,  and  as 
civilisation  extends.  The  sacrifice  of  the  personal 
desire  for  repose  to  the  performance  of  domestic  and 
social  duties  is  an  everyday  event  with  us,  and  other 
sacrifices  of  the  smaller  to  the  larger  self  are  by  no 
means  uncommon.  Life  in  general  may  be  looked 
upon  as  a  republic  where  the  individuals  are  for  the 
most  part  unconscious  that  while  they  are  working 
for  themselves  they  are  also  working  for  the  public 
good. 

We  may  freely  confess  ignorance  of  the  outcome 
in  the  far  future  of  that  personal  life  to  which  we 
each  cling  passionately  in  the  joyous  morning  of  the 


THE  OBSERVED  ORDER  OF  EVENTS.       301 

affections,  but  which,  as  these  and  other  interests 
fail,  does  not  seem  so  eminently  desirable  in  itself. 
We  know  that  organic  life  can  hardly  be  expected 
to  flourish  on  this  earth  of  ours  for  so  long  a  time 
as  it  has  already  existed,  because  the  sun  will  in 
all  probability  have  lost  too  much  of  its  heat  and 
light  by  then,  and  will  have  begun  to  grow  dark 
and  therefore  cold,  as  other  stars  have  done.  The 
conditions  of  existence  here,  which  are  now  appar- 
ently in  their  prime,  will  have  become  rigorous  and 
increasingly  so,  and  there  will  be  retrogression  towards 
lower  types,  until  the  simplest  form  of  life  shall  have 
wholly  disappeared  from  the  ice-bound  surface.  The 
whole  living  world  will  then  have  waxed  and  waned 
like  an  individual  life. 

Neither  can  we  discover  whether  organisms  here 
are  capable  of  attaining  the  average  development  of 
organisms  in  other  of  the  planets  that  are  probably 
circling  round  most  of  the  myriads  of  stars,  whose 
physical  constitution,  wherever  it  has  as  yet  been 
observed  spectroscopically,  does  not  differ  much  from 
that  of  our  sun.  But  we  perceive  around  us  a  count- 
less number  of  abortive  seeds  and  germs  ;  we  find  out 
of  any  group  of  a  thousand  men  selected  at  random, 
some  who  are  crippled,  insane,  idiotic,  and  otherwise 
born  incurably  imperfect  in  body  or  mind,  and  it  is 
possible  that  this  world  may  rank  among  other  worlds 
as  one  of  these. 

We  as  yet  understand  nothing  of  the  way  in  which 
our  conscious  selves  are  related  to  the  separate  lives  of 
the  billions  of  cells  of  which  the  body  of  each  of  us  is 


302  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

composed.  We  only  know  that  the  cells  form  a  vast 
nation,  some  members  of  which  are  always  dying  and 
others  growing  to  supply  their  places,  and  that  the 
continual  sequence  of  these  multitudes  of  little  lives 
has  its  outcome  in  the  larger  and  conscious  life  of  the 
man  as  a  whole.  Our  part  in  the  universe  may 
possibly  in  some  distant  way  be  analogous  to  that  of 
the  cells  in  an  organised  body,  and  our  personalities 
may  be  the  transient  but  essential  elements  of  an 
immortal  and  cosmic  mind. 

Our  views  of  the  object  of  life  have  to  be  framed 
so  as  not  to  be  inconsistent  with  the  observed  facts 
from  which  these  various  possibilities  are  inferred,  it 
is  safer  that  they  should  not  exclude  the  possibilities 
themselves.  We  must  look  on  the  slow  progress  of 
the  order  of  evolution,  and  the  system  of  routine  by 
which  it  has  thus  far  advanced,  as  due  to  antecedents 
and  to  inherent  conditions  of  which  we  have  not  as 
yet  the  slightest  conception.  It  is  difficult  to  with- 
stand a  suspicion  that  the  three  dimensions  of  space 
and  the  fourth  dimension  of  time  may  be  four  inde- 
pendent variables  of  a  system  that  is  neither  space 
nor  time,  but  something  else  wholly  unconceived  by 
us.  Our  present  enigma  as  to  how  a  First  Cause 
could  itself  have  been  brought  into  existence — how 
the  tortoise  of  the  fable,  that  bears  the  elephant  that 
bears  the  world,  is  itself  supported, — may  be  wholly 
due  to  our  necessary  mistranslation  of  the  four  or 
more  variables  of  the  universe,  limited  by  inherent 
conditions,  into  the  three  unlimited  variables  of  Space 
and  the  one  of  Time. 


THE  OBSERVED  ORDER  OF  EVENTS.       303 

Our  ignorance  of  the  goal  and  purport  of  human 
life,  and  the  mistrust  we  are  apt  to  feel  of  the  guidance 
of  the  spiritual  sense,  on  account  of  its  proved  readi- 
ness to  accept  illusions  as  realities,  warn  us  against 
deductive  theories  of  conduct.  Putting  these,  then,  at 
least  for  the  moment,  to  one  side,  we  find  ourselves 
face  to  face  with  two  great  and  indisputable  facts  that 
everywhere  force  themselves  on  the  attention  and 
compel  consideration.  The  one  is  that  the  whole  of 
the  living  world  moves  steadily  and  continuously 
towards  the  evolution  of  races  that  are  progressively 
more  and  more  adapted  to  their  complicated  mutual 
needs  and  to  their  external  circumstances.  The  other 
is  that  the  process  of  evolution  has  been  hitherto 
apparently  carried  out  with,  what  we  should  reckon 
in  our  ways  of  carrying  out  projects,  great  waste  of 
opportunity  and  of  life,  and  with  little  if  any  con- 
sideration for  individual  mischance.  Measured  by 
our  criterion  of  intelligence  and  mercy,  which  consists 
in  the  achievement  of  result  without  waste  of  time 
or  opportunity,  without  unnecessary  pain,  and  with 
equitable  allowance  for  pure  mistake,  the  process  of 
evolution  on  this  earth,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  has 
been  carried  out  neither  with  intelligence  nor  ruth, 
but  entirely  through  the  routine  of  various  sequences, 
commonly  called  "laws,"  established  or  necessitated 
we  know  not  how. 

An  incalculable  amount  of  lower  life  has  been 
certainly  passed  through  before  that  human  organ- 
isation was  attained,  of  which  we  and  our  generation 
are  for  the  time  the  holders  and  transmitters.     This 


304  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

is  no  mean  heritage,  and  I  think  it  should  be  con- 
sidered as  a  sacred  trust,  for,  together  with  man, 
intelligence  of  a  sufficiently  high  order  to  produce 
great  results  appears,  so  far  as  we  can  infer  from 
the  varied  records  of  the  prehistoric  past,  to  have 
first  dawned  upon  the  tenantry  of  the  earth.  Man 
has  already  shown  his  large  power  in  the  modifica- 
tions he  has  made  on  the  surface  of  the  globe,  and 
in  the  distribution  of  plants  and  animals.  He  has 
cleared  such  vast  regions  of  forest  that  his  work  that 
way  in  North  America  alone,  during  the  past  half 
century,  would  be  visible  to  an  observer  as  far  off  as 
the  moon.  He  has  dug  and  drained ;  he  has  exter- 
minated plants  and  animals  that  were  mischievous  to 
him ;  he  has  domesticated  those  that  serve  his  pur- 
pose, and  transplanted  them  to  great  distances  from 
their  native  places.  Now  that  this  new  animal,  man, 
finds  himself  somehow  in  existence,  endowed  with  a 
little  power  and  intelligence,  he  ought,  I  submit,  to 
awake  to  a  fuller  knowledge  of  his  relatively  great 
position,  and  begin  to  assume  a  deliberate  part  in 
furthering  the  great  work  of  evolution.  He  may 
infer  the  course  it  is  bound  to  pursue,  from  his  obser- 
vation of  that  which  it  has  already  followed,  and  he 
might  devote  his  modicum  of  power,  intelligence,  and 
kindly  feeling  to  render  its  future  progress  less  slow 
and  painful.  Man  has  already  furthered  evolution 
very  considerably,  half  unconsciously,  and  for  his 
own  personal  advantages,  but  he  has  not  yet  risen 
to  the  conviction  that  it  is  his  religious  duty  to  do 
so  deliberately  and  systematically. 


SELECTION   AND   RACE.  305 


Selection  and  Race. 

The  fact  of  an  individual  being  naturally  gifted 
with  high  qualities,  may  be  due  either  to  his  being  an 
exceptionally  good  specimen  of  a  poor  race,  or  an 
average  specimen  of  a  high  one.  The  difference  of 
origin  would  betray  itself  in  his  descendants ;  they 
would  revert  towards  the  typical  centre  of  their  race, 
deteriorating  in  the  first  case  but  not  in  the  second. 
The  two  cases,  though  theoretically  distinct,  are  con- 
fused in  reality,  owing  to  the  frequency  with  which 
exceptional  personal  qualities  connote  the  departure 
of  the  entire  nature  of  the  individual  from  his  ances- 
tral type,  and  the  formation  of  a  new  strain  having  its 
own  typical  centre.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add 
that  it  is  in  this  indirect  way  that  natural  selection 
improves  a  race.  The  two  events  of  selection  and 
difference  of  race  ought,  however,  to  be  carefully 
distinguished  in  broad  practical  considerations,  while 
the  frequency  of  their  concurrence  is  borne  in  mind 
and  allowed  for. 

So  long  as  the  race  remains  radically  the  same,  the 
stringent  selection  of  the  best  specimens  to  rear  and 
breed  from,  can  never  lead  to  any  permanent  result. 
The  attempt  to  raise  the  standard  of  such  a  race  is 
like  the  labour  of  Sisyphus  in  rolling  his  stone  uphill ; 
let  the  effort  be  relaxed  for  a  moment,  and  the  stone 
will  roll  back.  Whenever  a  new  typical  centre  ap- 
pears, it  is  as  though  there  was  a  facet  upon  the 
lower  surface  of  the  stone,  on  which  it  is  capable  of 

x 


306  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

resting  without  rolling  back.     It  affords  a  temporary 
sticking  point  in  the  forward  progress  of  evolution. 

The  causes  that  check  the  unlimited  improvement 
of  highly-bred  animals,  so  long  as  the  race  remains 
unchanged,  are  many  and  absolute. 

In  the  first  place  there  is  an  increasing  delicacy 
of  constitution  ;  the  growing  fineness  of  limb  and 
structure  end,  after  a  few  generations,  in  fragility. 
Overbred  animals  have  little  stamina,  they  resemble 
in  this  respect  the  "weedy"  colts  so  often  reared 
from  first-class  racers.  One  can  perhaps  see  in  a 
general  way  why  this  should  be  so.  Each  indivi- 
dual is  the  outcome  of  a  vast  number  of  organic 
elements  of  the  most  various  species,  just  as  some 
nation  might  be  the  outcome  of  a  vast  number  of 
castes  of  individuals,  each  caste  monopolising  a 
special  pursuit.  Banish  a  number  of  the  humbler 
castes — the  bakers,  the  bricklayers,  and  the  smiths, 
and  the  nation  would  soon  come  to  grief.  This  is 
what  is  done  in  high  breeding ;  certain  qualities  are 
bred  for,  and  the  rest  are  diminished  as  far  as  possible, 
but  they  cannot  be  dispensed  with  entirely. 

The  next  difficulty  lies  in  the  diminished  fertility 
of  highly-bred  animals.  It  is  not  improbable  that  its 
cause  is  of  the  same  character  as  that  of  the  delicacy 
of  their  constitution.  Together  with  infertility  is 
combined  some  degree  of  sexual  indifference,  or  when 
passion  is  shown,  it  is  not  unfrequently  for  some 
specimen  of  a  coarser  type.  This  is  certainly  the 
case  with  horses  and  with  dogs. 


SELECTION   AND    RACE.  307 

It  will  be  easily  understood  that  these  difficulties, 
which  are  so  formidable  in  the  case  of  plants  and 
animals,  which  we  can  mate  as  we  please  and  destroy 
when  we  please,  would  make  the  maintenance  of  a 
highly-selected  breed  of  men  an  impossibility. 

Whenever  a  low  race  is  preserved  under  conditions 
of  life  that  exact  a  high  level  of  efficiency,  it  must  be 
subjected  to  rigorous  selection.  The  few  best  speci- 
mens of  that  race  can  alone  be  allowed  to  become 
parents,  and  not  many  of  their  descendants  can  be 
allowed  to  live.  On  the  other  hand,  if  a  higher  race 
be  substituted  for  the  low  one,  all  this  terrible  misery 
disappears.  The  most  merciful  form  of  what  I  ven- 
tured to  call  "  eugenics  "  would  consist  in  watching 
for  the  indications  of  superior  strains  or  races,  and  in 
so  favouring  them  that  their  progeny  shall  outnum- 
ber and  gradually  replace  that  of  the  old  one.  Such 
strains  are  of  no  infrequent  occurrence.  It  is  easy  to 
specify  families  who  are  characterised  by  strong  resem- 
blances, and  whose  features  and  character  are  usually 
prepotent  over  those  of  their  wives  or  husbands  in 
their  joint  offspring,  and  who  are  at  the  same  time 
as  prolific  as  the  average  of  their  class.  These  strains 
can  be  conveniently  studied  in  the  families  of  exiles, 
wThich,  for  obvious  reasons,  are  easy  to  trace  in  their 
various  branches. 

The  debt  that  most  countries  owe  to  the  race  of 
men  whom  they  received  from  one  another  as  immi- 
grants, whether  leaving  their  native  country  of  their 
own  free  will,  or  as   exiles  on  political  or  religious 


308  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN   FACULTY. 

grounds,  lias  been  often  pointed  out,  and  may,  I 
think,  be  accounted  for  as  follows : — The  fact  of  a  man 
leaving  his  compatriots,  or  so  irritating  them  that  they 
compel  him  to  go,  is  fair  evidence  that  either  he  or 
they,  or  both,  feel  that  his  character  is  alien  to  theirs. 
Exiles  are  also  on  the  whole  men  of  considerable  force 
of  character  ;  a  quiet  man  would  endure  and  succumb, 
he  would  not  have  energy  to  transplant  himself  or  to 
become  so  conspicuous  as  to  be  an  object  of  general 
attack.  We  may  justly  infer  from  this,  that  exiles  are 
on  the  whole  men  of  exceptional  and  energetic  natures, 
and  it  is  especially  from  such  men  as  these  that  new 
strains  of  race  are  likely  to  proceed. 


Influence  of  Man  upon  Eace. 

The  influence  of  man  upon  the  nature  of  his  own 
race  has  already  been  very  large,  but  it  has  not  been 
intelligently  directed,  and  has  in  many  instances  done 
great  harm.  Its  action  has  been  by  invasions  and 
migration  of  races,  by  war  and  massacre,  by  whole- 
sale deportation  of  population,  by  emigration,  and  by 
many  social  customs  which  have  a  silent  but  wide- 
spread effect. 

There  exists  a  sentiment,  for  the  most  part  quite 
unreasonable,  against  the  gradual  extinction  of  an 
inferior  race.  It  rests  on  some  confusion  between  the 
race  and  the  individual,  as  if  the  destruction  of  a  race 
was  equivalent  to  the  destruction  of  a  large  number 
of  men.     It  is  nothing  of  the  kind  when  the  process 


INFLUENCE   OP   MAN   UPON   RACE.  309 

of  extinction  works  silently  and  slowly  through  the 
earlier  marriage  of  members  of  the  superior  race, 
through  their  greater  vitality  under  equal  stress, 
through  their  better  chances  of  getting  a  livelihood, 
or  through  their  prepotency  in  mixed  marriages. 
That  the  members  of  an  inferior  class  should  dislike 
being  elbowed  out  of  the  way  is  another  matter  ;  but 
it  may  be  somewhat  brutally  argued  that  whenever 
two  individuals  struggle  for  a  single  place,  one  must 
yield,  and  that  there  will  be  no  more  unhappiness  on 
the  whole,  if  the  inferior  yield  to  the  superior  than 
conversely,  whereas:  the  world  will  be  permanently 
enriched  by  the  success  of  the  superior.  The  condi- 
tioDs  of  happiness  are,  however,  too  complex  to  be 
disposed  of  by  d  priori  argument,  it  is  safest  to  appeal 
to  observation.  I  think  it  could  be  easily  shown  that 
when  the  differences  between  the  raees  is  not  so  great 
as  to  divide  them  into  obviously  different  classes,  and 
where  their  language,  education,  and  general  interests 
are  the  same,  the  substitution  may  take  place  gradu- 
ally without  any  unhappiness.  Thus  the  movements 
of  commerce  have  introduced  fresh  and  vigorous 
blood  into  various  parts  of  England,  the  new-comers 
have  intermarried  with  the  residents,  and  their  cha- 
racteristics have  been  prepotent  in  the  descendants  of 
the  mixed  marriages.  I  have  referred  in  the  earlier 
part  of  the  book  to  the  changes  of  type  in  the  English 
nature  that  have  occurred  during  the  last  few  hundred 
years.  These  have  been  effected  so  silently  that  we 
only  know  of  them  by  the  results. 

One   of  the  most  misleading  of  words  is  that  of 


310  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN   FACULTY. 

"  aborigines."  Its  use  dates  from  the  time  when  the 
cosmogony  was  thought  to  be  young  and  life  to  be 
of  very  recent  appearance.  Its  usual  meaning  seems 
to  be  derived  from  the  supposition  that  nations  dis- 
seminated themselves  like  colonists  from  a  common 
centre  about  four  thousand  years,  say  120  generations 
ago,  and  thenceforward  occupied  their  lands  undis- 
turbed until  the  very  recent  historic  period  with 
which  the  narrator  deals,  when  some  invading  host 
drove  out  the  "  aborigines."  This  idyllic  view  of  the 
march  of  events  is  contradicted  by  ancient  sepulchral 
remains,  by  language,  and  by  the  habits  of  those 
modern  barbarians  whose  history  we  know.  There 
are  probably  hardly  any  spots  on  the  earth  that  have 
not,  within  the  last  few  thousand  years,  been  tenanted 
by  very  different  races ;  none  hardly  that  have  not 
been  tenanted  by  very  different  tribes  having  the 
character  of  at  least  sub-races. 

The  absence  of  a  criterion  to  distinguish  between 
races  and  sub-races,  and  our  ethnological  ignorance 
generally,  makes  it  impossible  to  offer  more  than  a  very 
off-hand  estimate  of  the  average  variety  of  races  in 
the  different  countries  of  the  world.  I  have,  however, 
endeavoured  to  form  one,  which  I  give  with  much 
hesitation,  knowing  how  very  little  it  is  worth.  I 
registered  the  usually  recognised  races  inhabiting 
each  of  upwards  of  twenty  countries,  and  who  at  the 
same  time  formed  at  least  half  per  cent  of  the  popu- 
lation. It  was,  I  am  perfectly  aware,  a  very  rough 
proceeding,  so  rough  that  for  the  United  Kingdom  I 


INFLUENCE   OF   MAN   UPON   RACE.  311 

ignored  the  prehistoric  types  and  accepted  only  the 
three  headings  of  British,  Low  Dutch,  and  Norman- 
French.  Again,  as  regards  India  I  registered  as 
follows  : —  Forest  tribes  (numerous),  Dravidian  (three 
principal  divisions),  Early  Arian,  Tatar  (numerous, 
including  Afghans),  Arab,  and  lastly  European,  on 
account  of  their  political  importance,  notwithstanding 
the  fewness  of  their  numbers.  Proceeding  in  this 
off-hand  way,  and  after  considering  the  results,  the 
broad  conclusion  to  which  I  arrived  was  that  on  the 
average  at  least  three  different  recognised  races  were 
to  be  found  in  every  moderately-sized  district  on  the 
earth's  surface.  The  materials  were  far  too  scanty  to 
enable  any  idea  to  be  formed  of  the  rate  of  change 
in  the  relative  numbers  of  the  constituent  races  in 
each  country,  and  still  less  to  estimate  the  secular 
changes  of  type  in  those  races. 

It  may  be  well  to  take  one  or  two  examples  of 
intermixture.  Spain  was  occupied  in  the  earliest 
historic  times  by  at  least  two  races,  of  whom  we  know 
very  little  ;  it  was  afterwards  colonised  here  and  there 
by  Phoenicians  in  its  southern  ports,  and  by  Greeks  in 
its  eastern.  In  the  third  century  B.C.  it  was  invaded 
by  the  Carthagirrians,  who  conquered  and  held  a  large 
part  of  it,  but  were  afterwards  supplanted  by  the 
Romans,  who  ruled  it  more  or  less  completely  for  700 
years.  It  was  invaded  in  the  fifth  century  a.d.  by 
a  succession  of  German  tribes,  and  was  finally  com- 
pletely overrun  by  the  Visigoths,  who  ruled  it  for 
more  than  200  years.  Then  came  the  invasion  of  the 
Moors,  who  rapidly  conquered  the  whole  of  the  Pen- 


312  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

insula  up  to  the  mountains  of  Asturias,  where  the 
Goths  still  held  their  own,  and  whence  they  issued 
from  time  to  time  and  ultimately  recovered  the  coun- 
try. The  present  population  consists  of  the  remnants 
of  one  or  more  tribes  of  ancient  Iberians,  of  the  still 
more  ancient  Basques,  and  of  relics  of  all  the  invaders 
who  have  just  been  named.  There  is,  besides,  a 
notable  proportion  of  Gypsies  and  not  a  few  Jews. 

This  is  obviously  a  most  heterogeneous  mixture, 
but  to  fully  appreciate  the  diversity  of  its  origin  the 
several  elements  should  be  traced  farther  back 
towards  their  sources.  Thus,  the  Moors  are  prin- 
cipally descendants  of  Arabs,  who  flooded  the  northern 
provinces  of  Africa  in  successive  waves  of  emigration 
eastwards,  both  before  and  after  the  Hegira,  partly 
combining  with  the  Berbers  as  they  went,  and  partly 
displacing  them  from  the  littoral  districts  and  driving 
them  to  the  oases'  of  the  Sahara,  whence  they  in  their 
turn  displaced  the  Negro  population,  whom  they 
drove  down  to  the  Soudan.  The  Gypsies,  according 
to  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson,1  came  from  Indo-Scythic 
tribes  who  inhabited  the  mouths  of  the  Indus,  and 
began  to  migrate  northward,  from  the  fourth  century 
onward.  ^hey  settled  in  the  Chaldean  marshes, 
assumed  independence  and  defied  the  caliph.  In  a.d. 
831  the  grandson  of  Haroun  al-Raschid  sent  a  large 
expedition  against  them,  which,  after  slaughtering  ten 

1  Proceedings  of  tlie  Royal  Geographical  Society,  vol.  i.  This  account 
of  tlie  routes  of  the  Gypsies  is  by  no  means  universally  accepted,  nor, 
indeed,  was  offered  as  a  complete  solution  of  tlie  problem  of  their 
migration,  but  it  will  serve  to  show  how  complex  that  problem  is. 


INFLUENCE   OF   MAN   UPON   RACE.  313 

thousand,  deported  the  whole  of  the  remainder  first  to 
Baghdad  and  thence  onwards  to  Persia.  They  con- 
tinued unmanageable  in  their  new  home,  and  wTere 
finally  transplanted  to  the  Cilician  frontier  in  Asia 
Minor,  and  established  there  as  a  military  colony  to 
guard  the  passes  of  the  Taurus.  In  a.d.  962  the 
Greeks,  having  obtained  some  temporary  successes, 
drove  the  Gypsies  back  more  into  the  interior,  whence 
they  gradually  moved  towards  the  Hellespont  under 
the  pressure  of  the  advancing  Seljukians,  during  the 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries.  They  then  crossed 
over  to  Europe  and  gradually  overspread  it,  where  they 
are  now  estimated  to  number  more  than  three  millions. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  emigration  on  a 
large  scale  implies  even  a  moderate  degree  of  civili- 
sation among  those  who  emigrate,  because  the  process 
has  been  frequently  traced  among  the  more  barbarous 
tribes,  to  say  nothing  of  the  evidence  largely  derived 
from  ancient  burial-places.  My  own  impression  of 
the  races  in  South  Africa  was  one  of  a  continual 
state  of  ferment  and  change,  of  the  rapid  develop- 
ment of  some  clan  here  and  of  the  complete  or  almost 
complete  suppression  of  another  clan  there.  The 
well-known  history  of  the  rise  of  the  Zulus  and  the 
destruction  of  their  neighbours  is  a  case  in  point. 
In  the  country  with  which  I  myself  was  familiar  the 
changes  had  been  numerous  and  rapid  in  the  pre- 
ceding few  years,  and  there  were  undoubted  signs  of 
much  more  important  substitutions  of  race  in  bygone 
times.     The  facts  were  briefly  these  :   Darnara  Land 


314  INQUIRIES   INTO    HUMAN   FACULTY. 

was  inhabited  by  pastoral  tribes  of  the  brown  Bantu 
race  who  were  in  continual  war  with  various  alterna- 
tions of  fortune,  and  the  several  tribes  had  special 
characteristics  that  were  readily  appreciated  by  them- 
selves. On  the  tops  of  the  escarped  hills  lived  a 
fugitive  black  people  speaking  a  vile  dialect  of  Hot- 
tentot, and  families  of  yellow  Bushmen  were  found  in 
the  lowlands  wherever  the  country  was  unsuited  for  the 
pastoral  Damaras.  Lastly,  the  steadily  encroaching 
Namaquas,  a  superior  Hottentot  race,  lived  on  the  edge 
of  the  district.  They  had  very  much  more  civilisation 
than  the  Bushmen,  and  more  than  the  Damaras,  and 
they  contained  a  large  infusion  of  Dutch  blood. 

The  interpretation  of  all  this  was  obviously  that 
the  land  had  been  tenanted  a  long  time  ago  by 
Negroes,  that  an  invasion  of  Bushmen  drove  the 
Negroes  to  the  hills,  and  that  the  supremacy  of  these 
lasted  so  long  that  the  Negroes  lost  their  own  language 
and  acquired  that  of  the  Bushmen.  Then  an  invasion 
of  a  tribe  of  Bantu  race  supplanted  the  Bushmen,  and 
the  Bantus,  after  endless  struggles  among  themselves, 
were  being  pushed  aside  at  the  time  I  visited  them  by 
the  incoming  Namaquas,  who  themselves  are  a  mixed 
race.  This  is  merely  a  sample  of  Africa,  everywhere 
there  are  evidences  of  changing  races. 

The  last  300  or  400  years,  say  the  last  ten  genera- 
tions of  mankind,  have  witnessed  changes  of  popula- 
tion on  the  largest  scale,  by  the  extension  of  races 
long  resident  in  Europe  to  the  temperate  regions  of 
Asia,  Africa,  America,  and  Australasia. 


INFLUENCE    OF    MAN   UPON  RACE.  315 

Siberia  was  barely  known  to  the  Eussians  of  nine 
generations  ago,  but  since  that  time  it  has  been  con- 
tinuously overspread  by  their  colonists,  soldiers,  politi- 
cal exiles,  and  transported  criminals ;  already  some 
two-thirds  of  its  population  are  Sclaves. 

In  South  Africa  the  settlement  at  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  is  barely  six  generations  old,  yet  during 
that  time  a  curious  and  continuous  series  of  changes 
has  taken  place,  resulting  in  the  substitution  of  an 
alien  population  for  the  Hottentots  in  the  south  and 
the  Bantus  in  the  north.  One-third  of  it  is  white, 
consisting  of  Dutch,  English,  descendants  of  French 
Huguenot  refugees,  some  Germans  and  Portuguese, 
and  the  remainder  is  a  strange  medley  of  Hottentot, 
Bantu,  Malay,  and  Negro  elements.  In  North  Africa 
Egypt  has  become  infiltrated  with  Greeks,  Italians, 
Frenchmen,  and  Englishmen  during  the  last  two 
generations,  and  Algeria  with  Frenchmen. 

In  North  America  the  change  has  been  most  strik- 
ing, from  a  sparse  Indian  population  of  hunters  into 
that  of  the  present  inhabitants  of  the  United  States 
and  Canada ;  the  former  of  these,  with  its  total  of  fifty 
millions  inhabitants,  already  contains  more  than  forty- 
three  millions  of  whites,  chiefly  of  English  origin  ;  that 
is  more  of  European  blood  than  is  to  be  found  in  any 
one  of  the  five  great  European  kingdoms  of  England, 
France,  Italy,  Germany,  and  Austria,  and  less  than 
that  of  Eussia  alone.  The  remainder  are  chiefly  black, 
the  descendants  of  slaves  imported  from  Africa.  In 
the  Dominion  of  Canada,  with  its  much  smaller  popu- 
lation of  four  millions,  there  has  been  a  less,  but  still 


316  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

a  complete,  swamping  of  the  previous  Indian  element 
by  incoming  whites. 

In  South  America,  and  thence  upwards  to  Mexico 
inclusive,  the  population  has  been  infiltrated  in  some 
parts  and  transformed  in  others,  by  Spanish  blood  and 
by  that  of  the  negroes  whom  they  introduced,  so  that 
not  one  half  of  its  population  can  be  reckoned  as  of 
pure  Indian  descent. 

The  West  Indian  Islands  have  had  their  popula- 
tion absolutely  swept  away  since  the  time  of  the 
Spanish  Conquest,  except  in  a  few  rare  instances,  and 
African  Negroes  have  been  substituted  for  them. 

Australia  and  New  Zealand  tell  much  the  same 
tale  as  Canada.  A  native  population  has  been  almost 
extinguished  in  the  former  and  is  swamped  in  the 
latter,  under  the  pressure  of  an  immigrant  population 
of  Europeans,  which  is  now  twelve  times  as  numerous 
as  the  Maories.  The  time  during  which  this  great 
change  has  been  effected  is  less  than  that  covered  by 
three  generations. 

To  this  brief  sketch  of  changes  of  population  in 
very  recent  periods,  I  might  add  the  wave  of  Arab 
admixture  that  has  extended  from  Egypt  and  the 
northern  provinces  of  Africa  into  the  Soudan,  and 
that  of  the  yellow  races  of  China,  who  have  already 
made  their  industrial  and  social  influence  felt  in  many 
distant  regions,  and  who  bid  fair  hereafter,  when  cer- 
tain of  their  peculiar  religious  fancies  shall  have  fallen 
into  decay,  to  become  one  of  the  most  effective  of  the 
colonising  nations,  and  who  may,  as  I  trust,  extrude 


POPULATION.  317 

hereafter  the  coarse  and  lazy  Negro  from  at  least  the 
metaliferous  regions  of  tropical  Africa. 

It  is  clear  from  what  has  been  said,  that  men  of 
former  generations  have  exercised  enormous  influence 
over  the  human  stock  of  the  present  day,  and  that 
the  average  humanity  of  the  world  now  and  in  future 
years  is  and  will  be  very  different  to  what  it  would 
have  been  if  the  action  of  our  forefathers  had  been 
different.  The  power  in  man  of  varying  the  future 
human  stock  vests  a  great  responsibility  in  the  hands 
of  each  fresh  generation,  which  has  not  yet  been 
recognised  at  its  just  importance,  nor  deliberately 
employed.  It  is  foolish  to  fold  the  hands  and  to  say 
that  nothing  can  be  done,  inasmuch  as 'social  forces 
and  self-interests  are  too  strong  to  be  resisted.  They 
need  not  be  resisted ;  they  can  be  guided.  It  is  one 
thing  to  check  the  course  of  a  huge  steam  vessel  by 
the  shock  of  a  sudden  encounter  when  she  is  going  at 
full  speed  in  the  wrong  direction,  and  another  to 
cause  her  to  change  her  course  slowly  and  gently 
by  a  slight  turn  of  the  helm.  Nay,  a  ship  may  be 
made  to  describe  a  half  circle,  and  to  end  by  follow- 
ing a  course  exactly  opposite  to  the  first,  without 
attracting  the  notice  of  the  passengers. 


Population. 

Over-population  and  its  attendant  miseries  may 
not   improbably  become   a    more  serious    subject    of 


318  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN   FACULTY. 

consideration  than  it  ever  yet  has  been,  owing  to 
improved  sanatation  and  consequent  diminution  of 
the  mortality  of  children,  and  to  the  filling  up  of  the 
spare  places  of  the  earth  which  are  still  void  and  able 
to  receive  the  overflow  of  Europe.  There  are  no 
doubt  conflicting  possibilities  which  I  need  not  stop 
to  discuss. 

The  check  to  over-population  mainly  advocated  by 
Malthus  is  a  prudential  delay  in  the  time  of  marriage  ; 
but  the  practice  of  such  a  doctrine  would  assuredly  be 
limited,  and  if  limited  it  would  be  most  prejudicial  to 
the  race,  as  I  have  pointed  out  in  Hereditary  Genius, 
but  may  be  permitted  to  do  so  again.  The  doctrine 
would  only  be  followed  by  the  prudent  and  self-deny- 
ing ;  it  would  be  neglected  by  the  impulsive  and  self- 
seeking.  Those  whose  race  we  especially  want  to  have, 
would  leave  few  descendants,  while  those  whose  race  we 
especially  want  to  be  quit  of,  would  crowd  the  vacant 
space  with  their  progeny  and  the  strain  of  population 
would  thenceforward  be  just  as  pressing  as  before. 
There  would  have  been  a  little  relief  during  one  or 
two  generations,  but  no  permanent  increase  of  the 
general  happiness,  while  the  race  of  the  nation  would 
have  deteriorated.  The  practical  application  of  the 
doctrine  of  deferred  rnarriao;e  would  therefore  lead  in- 
directly  to  most  mischievous  results,  that  were  over- 
looked owing  to  the  neglect  of  considerations  bearing 
on  race.  While  criticising  the  main  conclusion  to 
which  Malthus  came,  I  must  take  the  opportunity  of 
paying  my  humble  tribute  of  admiration  to  his  great 
and  original  work,  which  seems  to  me  like  the  rise  of 


POPULATION.  319 

a  morning  star  before  a  day  of  free  social  investigation. 
There  is  nothing  whatever  in  his  book  that  would  be 
in  the  least  offensive  to  this  generation,  but  he  wrote 
in  advance  of  his  time  and  consequently  roused  virulent 
attacks,  notably  from  his  fellow-clergymen,  whose  doc- 
trinaire notions  upon  the  paternal  dispensation  of  the 
world  were  rudely  shocked. 

The  misery  check,  as  Malthus  called  all  those  in- 
fluences that  are  not  prudential,  is  an  ugly  phrase  not 
fully  justified.  It  no  doubt  includes  deaths  through 
inadequate  food  and  shelter,  through  pestilence  from 
overcrowding,  through  war,  and  the  like ;  but  it  also 
includes  many  causes  that  do  not  deserve  so  hard  a 
name.  Population  decays  under  conditions  that  can- 
not be  charged  to  the  presence  or  absence  of  misery, 
in  the  common  sense  of  the  word.  These  exist  when 
native  races  disappear  before  the  presence  of  the  in- 
coming white  man,  when  after  making  the  fullest 
allowances  for  imported  disease,  for  brandy  drinking, 
and  other  assignable  causes,  there  is  always  a  large 
residuum  of  effect  not  clearly  accounted  for.  It  is 
certainly  not  wholly  due  to  misery,  but  rather  to  list- 
lessness,  due  to  discouragement,  and  acting  adversely 
in  many  ways. 

One  notable  result  of  dulness  and  apathy  is  to 
make  a  person  unattractive  to  the  opposite  sex  and  to 
be  unattracted  by  them.  It  is  antagonistic  to  sexual 
affection,  and  the  result  is  a  diminution  of  offspring. 
There  exists  strong  evidence  that  the  decay  of  popula- 
tion in  some  parts  of  South  America  under  the  irksome 
tyranny  of  the  Jesuits,  which  crushed  what  little  viva- 


320  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

city  the  people  possessed,  was  due  to  this  very  cause. 
One  cannot  fairly  apply  the  term  "  misery  "  to  apathy ; 
I  should  rather  say  that  strong  affections  restrained 
from  marriage  by  prudential  considerations  more  truly 
deserved  that  name. 


Early  and  Late  Marriages. 

It  is  important  to  obtain  a  just  idea  of  the  relative 
effects  of  early  and  late  marriages.  I  attempted  this 
in  Hereditary  Genius,  but  I  think  the  following  is  a 
better  estimate.  We  are  unhappily  still  deficient  in 
collected  data  as  regards  the  fertility  of  the  upper 
and  middle  classes  at  different  ages  ;  but  the  facts 
collected  by  Dr.  Matthews  Duncan  as  regards  the 
lower  orders  will  serve  our  purpose  approximately,  by 
furnishing  the  required  ratios,  though  not  the  absolute 
values.  The  following  are  his  results,1  from  returns 
kept  at  the  Lying-in  Hospital  of  St.  Georges-in-the- 
East : — 

Age  of  Mother  at  her  Fertility. 

Marriage.  °  J 

15-19  9-12 

20-24  7-92 

25-29  6-30 

30-34  4-60 

The  meaning  of  this  Table  will  be  more  clearly 
grasped  after  a  little  modification  of  its  contents. 
We  may  consider  the  fertility  of  each  group  to  refer 
to  the  medium  age  of  that  group,  as  by  writing  1 7 

1  Fecundity,   Fertility,   Sterility,   etc.,    by   Dr.    Matthews    Duncan. 
A.  &  C.  Black  :  Edinburgh,  1871,  p.  143. 


EARLY   AND    LATE   MARRIAGES.  321 

instead  of  15-19,  and  we  may  slightly  smooth  the 
figures,  then  we  have 


Age  of  Mother  at  her 
Marriage. 

Approximate  average 
Fertility. 

17 

9-00  =  6  x  1-5 

22 

7-50  =  5  x  1-5 

27 

6-00  =  4  x  1-5 

32 

4-50  =  3x  1-5 

which  shows  that  the  relative  fertility  of  mothers 
married  at  the  ages  of  17,  22,  27,  and  32  respectively 
is  as  6,  5,  4,  and  3  approximately. 

The  increase  in  population  by  a  habit  of  early 
marriages  is  further  augmented  by  the  greater  rapidity 
with  which  the  generations  follow  each  other.  By 
the  joint  effect  of  these  two  causes,  a  large  effect  is  in 
time  produced. 

Let  us  compute  a  single  example.  Taking  a  group 
of  100  mothers  married  at  the  age  of  20,  whom  we 
will  designate  as  A,  and  another  group  of  100  mothers 
married  at  the  age  of  29,  whom  we  will  call  B,  we 
shall  find  by  interpolation  that  the  fertility  of  A  and 
B  respectively  would  be  about  8*2  and  5*4.  We  need 
not,  however,  regard  their  absolute  fertility,  which 
would  differ  in  different  classes  of  society,  but  will 
only  consider  their  relative  production  of  such  female 
children  as  may  live  and  become  mothers,  and  we 
will  suppose  the  number  of  such  descendants  in  the 
first  generation  to  be  the  same  as  that  of  the  A  and 
B  mothers  together — namely,  200.  Then  the  number 
of  such  children  in  the  A  and  B  classes  respectively, 
being  in  the  proportion  of  8 '2  to  5*4,  will  be  115 
and  85. 


322 


INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN    FACULTY, 


We  have  next  to  determine  the  average  lengths 
of  the  A  and  B  generations,  which  may  be  roughly 
done  by  basing  it  on  the  usual  estimate  of  an  average 
generation,  irrespectively  of  sex,  at  a  third  of  a 
century,  or  say  of  an  average  female  generation  at 
3 1'5  years.  We  will  further  take  20  years  as  being 
4  '5  years  earlier  than  the  average  time  of  marriage, 
and  29  years  as  4*5  years  later  than  it,  so  that  the 
length  of  each  generation  of  the  A  group  will  be  27 
years,  and  that  of  the  B  group  will  be  36  years.  All 
these  suppositions  appear  to  be  perfectly  fair  and 
reasonable,  while  it  may  easily  be  shown  that  any 
other  suppositions  within  the  bounds  of  probability 
would  lead  to  results  of  the  same  general  order. 

The  least  common  multiple  of  27  and  36  is  108, 
at  the  end  of  which  term  of  years  A  will  have  been 
multiplied  four  times  over  by  the  factor  1*5,  and  B 
three  times  over  by  the  factor  0*85.  The  results  are 
given  in  the  following  Table  : — 


After  Number 
of  Years 
as  below. 

Number  of  Female  Descendants  who  themselves 
become  Mothers. 

A 

Of  100  Mothers  whose  Mar- 
riages and  those  of  their 
Daughters  all  take  place  at 
the  Age  of  20  Years. 

(Ratio  of  Increase  in  each 

successive  Generation 

being  1-15.) 

B 

Of  100  Mothers  whose  Mar- 
riages and  those  of  their 
Daughters  all  take  place  at 
the  Age  of  29  Years. 

(Ratio  of  Decrease  in  each 

successive  Generation 

being  0-85.) 

108 
216 
324 

175 
299 
535 

61 
38 

23 

i 

MARKS    FOR   FAMILY   MERIT.  323 

The  general  result  is  that  the  group  B  gradually 
disappears,  and  the  group  A  more  than  supplants  it. 
Hence  if  the  races  best  fitted  to  occupy  the  land  are 
encouraged  to  marry  early,  they  will  breed  down  the 
others  in  a  very  few  generations. 


Marks  for  Family  Merit. 

It  may  seem  very  reasonable  to  ask  how  the 
result  proposed  in  the  last  paragraph  is  to  be  attained, 
and  to  add  that  the  difficulty  of  carrying  so  laudable 
a  proposal  into  effect  lies  wholly  in  the  details,  and 
therefore  that  until  some  working  plan  is  suggested, 
the  consideration  of  improving  the  human  race  is 
Utopian.  But  this  requirement  is  not  altogether  fair, 
because  if  a  persuasion  of  the  importance  of  any  end 
takes  possession  of  men's  minds,  sooner  or  later  means 
are  found  by  which  that  end  is  carried  into  effect. 
Some  of  the  objections  offered  at  first  will  be  dis- 
covered to  be  sentimental,  and  of  no  real  importance 
— the  sentiment  will  change  and  they  will  disappear ; 
others  that  are  genuine  are  not  met,  but  are  in  some 
way  turned  or  eluded ;  and  lastly,  through  the  in- 
genuity of  many  minds  directed  for  a  long  time 
towards  the  achievement  of  a  common  purpose,  many 
happy  ideas  are  sure  to  be  hit  upon  that  would  not 
have  occurred  to  a  single  individual. 

This  being  premised,  it  will  suffice  to  faintly 
sketch  out  some  sort  of  basis  for  eugenics,  it  being 


324  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

now  an  understanding  that  we  are  provisionally  agreed, 
for  the  sake  of  argument,  that  the  improvement  of 
race  is  an  object  of  first-class  importance,  and  that 
the  popular  feeling  has  been  educated  to  regard  it  in 
that  light. 

The  final  object  would  be  to  devise  means  for 
favouring  individuals  who  bore  the  signs  of  member- 
ship of  a  superior  race,  the  proximate  aim  would  be 
to  ascertain  what  those  signs  were,  and  these  we  will 
consider  first. 

The  indications  of  superior  breed  are  partly  per- 
sonal, partly  ancestral.  We  need  not  trouble  our- 
selves about  the  personal  part,  because  full  weight 
is  already  given  to  it  in  the  competitive  careers ; 
energy,  brain,  morale,  and  health  being  recognised 
factors  of  success,  while  there  can  hardly  be  a  better 
evidence  of  a  person  being  adapted  to  his  circum- 
stances than  that  afforded  by  success.  It  is  the 
ancestral  part  that  is  neglected,  and  which  we  have 
yet  to  recognise  at  its  just  value.  A  question  that 
now  continually  arises  is  this  ;  a  youth  is  a  candidate 
for  permanent  employment,  his  present  personal  quali- 
fications are  known,  but  how  will  he  turn  out  in  later 
years  ?  The  objections  to  competitive  examinations 
are  notorious,  in  that  they  give  undue  prominence  to 
youths  whose  receptive  faculties  are  quick,  and  whose 
intellects  are  precocious.  They  give  no  indication  of 
the  direction  in  which  the  health,  character,  and  in- 
tellect of  the  youth  will  change  through  the  develop- 
ment in  their  due  course,  of  ancestral  tendencies  that 
are  latent  in  youth,  but  will  manifest  themselves  in 


MARKS    FOR   FAMILY    MERIT.  325 

after  life.  Examinations  deal  with  the  present,  not 
with  the  future,  although  it  is  in  the  future  of  the 
youth  that  we  are  especially  interested.  Much  of  the 
needed  guidance  may  be  derived  from  his  family  his- 
tory. I  cannot  doubt,  if  two  youths  were  of  equal 
personal  merit,  of  whom  one  belonged  to  a  thriving 
and  long-lived  family,  and  the  other  to  a  decaying 
and  short-lived  family,  that  there  could  be  any  hesi- 
tation in  saying  that  the  chances  were  greater  of  the 
first -mentioned  youth  becoming  the  more  valuable 
public  servant  of  the  two. 

A  thriving  family  may  be  sufficiently  defined  or 
inferred  by  the  successive  occupations  of  its  several 
male  members  in  the  previous  generation,  and  of  the 
two  grandfathers.  These  are  patent  facts  attainable 
by  almost  every  youth,  which  admit  of  being  verified 
in  his  neighbourhood  and  attested  in  a  satisfactory 
manner. 

A  healthy  and  long-lived  family  may  be  defined 
by  the  patent  facts  of  ages  at  death,  and  number  and 
ages  of  living  relatives,  within  the  degrees  mentioned 
above,  all  of  which  can  be  verified  and  attested.  A 
knowledge  of  the  existence  of  longevity  in  the  family 
would  testify  to  the  stamina  of  the  candidate,  and  be 
an  important  addition  to  the  knowledge  of  his  present 
health  in  forecasting  the  probability  of  his  performing 
a  large  measure  of  experienced  work. 

Owing  to  absence  of  data  and  the  want  of  inquiry 
of  the  family  antecedents  of  those  who  fail  and  of 
those  who  succeed  in  life,  we  are  much  more  ignorant 
than  we  ought  to  be  of  their  relative  importance.     In 


326  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

connection  with  this,  I  may  mention  some  curious 
results  published  by  Mr.  F.  M.  Hollond1  of  Boston, 
U.S.,  as  to  the  antecedent  family  history  of  persons 
who  were  reputed  to  be  more  moral  than  the  average, 
and  of  those  who  were  the  reverse.  He  has  been 
good  enough  to  reply  to  questions  that  I  sent  to  him 
concerning  his  criterion  of  morality,  and  other  points 
connected  with  the  statistics,  in  a  way  that  seems 
satisfactory,  and  he  has  very  obligingly  furnished  me 
with  additional  MS.  materials.  One  of  his  conclusions 
was  that  morality  is  more  often  found  among  members 
of  large  families  than  among  those  of  small  ones.  It 
is  reasonable  to  expect  this  would  be  the  case  owing 
to  the  internal  discipline  among  members  of  large 
families,  and  to  the  wholesome  sustaining  and  re- 
straining effects  of  family  pride  and  family  criticism. 
Members  of  small  families  are  apt  to  be  selfish,  and 
when  the  smallness  of  the  family  is  due  to  the  deaths 
of  many  of  its  members  at  early  ages,  it  is  some  evi- 
dence either  of  weakness  of  the  family  constitution,  or 
of  deficiency  of  common  sense  or  of  affection  on  the 
part  of  the  parents  in  not  taking  better  care  of  them. 
Mr.  Hollond  quotes  in  his  letter  to  me  a  piece  of 
advice  by  Franklin  to  a  young  man  in  search  of  a  wife, 
"  to  take  one  out  of  a  bunch  of  sisters,"  and  a  popular 
saying  that  kittens  brought  up  with  others  make  the 
best  pets,  because  they  have  learned  to  play  without 
scratching.      Sir  William  Gull2  has  remarked   that 

1  Index  Newspaper,  Boston,  U.S.     July  27,  1882. 

2  Blue  Book,  G — 1446,  1876.     On  the  Selection  and  Training  of 
Candidates  for  the  Indian  Civil  Service. 


MARKS   FOR  FAMILY   MERIT.  327 

those  candidates  for  the  Indian  Civil  Service  who  are 
members  of  large  families  are  on  the  whole  the 
strongest. 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  say  that  any  scheme  of  marks 
for  family  merit  would  not  require  a  great  deal  of  pre- 
paratory consideration.  Careful  statistical  inquiries 
have  yet  to  be  made  into  the  family  antecedents  of 
public  servants  of  mature  age  in  connection  with  their 
place  in  examination  lists  at  the  earlier  age  when 
they  first  gained  their  appointments.  This  would  be 
necessary  in  order  to  learn  the  amount  of  marks  that 
should  be  assigned  to  various  degrees  of  family  merit. 
I  foresee  no  peculiar  difficulty  in  conducting  such  an 
inquiry ;  indeed,  now  that  competitive  examinations 
have  been  in  general  use  for  many  years,  the  time 
seems  ripe  for  it,  but  of  course  its  conduct  would 
require  much  confidential  inquiry  and  a  great  deal  of 
trouble  in  verifying  returns.  Still,  it  admits  of  being 
done,  and  if  the  results,  derived  from  different  sources, 
should  confirm  one  another,  they  could  be  depended  on. 

Let  us  now  suppose  that  a  way  was  seen  for 
carrying  some  such  idea  as  this  into  practice,  and 
that  family  merit,  however  defined,  was  allowed  to 
count,  for  however  little,  in  competitive  examina- 
tions. The  effect  would  be  very  great :  it  would 
show  that  ancestral  qualities  are  of  present  current 
value  ;  it  would  give  an  impetus  to  collecting 
family  histories ;  it  would  open  the  eyes  of  every 
family  and  of  society  at  large  to  the  importance  of 
marriage  alliance  with  a  good  stock ;  it  would  intro- 


328  INQUIRIES    INTO    HUMAN    FACULTY. 

duce  the  subject  of  race  into  a  permanent  topic  of 
consideration,  which  (on  the  supposition  of  its  bond 
fide  importance  that  has  been  assumed  for  the  sake  of 
argument)  experience  would  show  to  be  amply  justi- 
fied. Any  act  that  first  gives  a  guinea  stamp  to  the 
sterling  guinea's  worth  of  natural  nobility  might  set 
a  great  social  avalanche  in  motion. 


Endowments. 

Endowments  and  bequests  have  been  freely  and 
largely  made  for  various  social  purposes,  and  as  a 
matter  of  history  they  have  frequently  been  made  to 
portion  girls  in  marriage.  It  so  happens  that  the  very 
day  that  I  am  writing  this,  I  notice  an  account  in  the 
foreign  newspapers  (September  19,  1882)  of  an  Italian 
who  has  bequeathed  a  sum  to  the  corporation  of 
London  to  found  small  portions  for  three  poor  girls  to 
be  selected  by  lot.  And  again,  a  few  weeks  ago  I 
read  also  in  the  French  papers  of  a  trial,  in  reference 
to  the  money  adjudged  to  the  "  Kosiere"  of  a  certain 
village.  Many  cases  in  which  individuals  and  states 
have  portioned  girls  may  be  found  in  Malthus.  It 
is  therefore  far  from  improbable  that  if  the  merits  of 
good  race  became  widely  recognised  and  its  indications 
were  rendered  more  surely  intelligible  than  they  now 
are,  that  local  endowments,  and  perhaps  adoptions, 
might  be  made  in  favour  of  those  of  both  sexes  who 
showed  evidences  of  high  race  and  of  belonging  to  pro- 
lific and  thriving  families.     One  cannot  forecast  their 


ENDOWMENTS.  329 

form,  though  we  may  reckon  with  some  assurance  that 
in  one  way  or  another  they  would  be  made,  and  that 
the  better  races  would  be  given  a  better  chance  of 
marrying  early. 

A  curious  relic  of  the  custom  which  was  universal 
three  or  four  centuries  ago,  of  entrusting  education  to 
celibate  priests,  forbade  Fellows  of  Colleges  to  marry, 
under  the  penalty  of  losing  their  fellowships.  It  is 
as  though  the  winning  horses  at  races  were  rendered 
inelligible  to  become  sires,  which  I  need  hardly  say  is 
the  exact  reverse  of  the  practice.  Kaces  were  esta- 
blished and  endowed  by  "  Queen's  plates"  and  other- 
wise at  vast  expense,  for  the  purpose  of  discovering 
the  swiftest  horses,  who  are  thenceforward  exempted 
from  labour  and  reserved  for  the  sole  purpose  of  pro- 
pagating their  species.  The  horses  who  do  not  win 
races,  or  who  are  not  otherwise  specially  selected  for 
their  natural  gifts,  are  prevented  from  becoming  sires. 
Similarly,  the  mares  who  win  races  as  fillies,  are  not 
allowed  to  waste  their  strength  in  being  ridden  or 
driven,  but  are  tended  under  sanatory  conditions  for 
the  sole  purpose  of  bearing  offspring.  It  is  better 
economy,  in  the  long  run,  to  use  the  best  mares  as 
breeders  than  as  workers,  the  loss  through  their  with- 
drawal from  active  service  being  more  than  recouped 
in  the  next  generation  through  what  is  gained  by 
their  progeny. 

The  college  statutes  to  which  I  referred  were  very 
recently  relaxed  at  Oxford,  and  have  been  just  re- 
formed at  Cambridge.  I  am  told  that  numerous  mar- 
riages  have  ensued  in  consequence,  or  are  ensuing.    In 


330  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN  FACULTY. 

Hereditary  Genius  I  showed  that  scholastic  success 
runs  strongly  in  families  ;  therefore,  in  all  seriousness, 
I  have  no  doubt,  that  the  number  of  Englishmen 
naturally  endowed  with  high  scholastic  faculties,  will 
be  sensibly  increased  in  future  generations  by  the 
repeal  of  these  ancient  statutes. 

The  English  race  has  yet  to  be  explored  and  their 
now  unknown  wealth  of  hereditary  gifts  recorded,  that 
those  who  possess  such  a  patrimony  should  know  of  it. 
The  natural  impulses  of  mankind  would  then  be  suffi- 
cient to  ensure  that  such  wealth  should  no  more 
continue  to  be  neglected  than  the  existence  of  any 
other  possession  suddenly  made  known  to  a  man. 
Aristocracies  seldom  make  alliances  out  of  their  order, 
except  to  gain  wealth.  Is  it  less  to  be  expected  that 
those  who  become  aware  that  they  are  endowed  with 
the  power  of  transmitting  valuable  hereditary  gifts 
should  abstain  from  squandering  their  future  children's 
patrimony  by  marrying  persons  of  lower  natural 
stamp  %  The  social  consideration  that  would  attach 
itself  to  high  races  would,  it  may  be  hoped,  partly 
neutralise  a  social  cause  that  is  now  very  adverse  to 
the  early  marriages  of  the  most  gifted,  namely,  the 
cost  of  living  in  cultured  and  refined  society.  A 
young  man  with  a  career  before  him  commonly  feels 
it  would  be  an  act  of  folly  to  hamper  himself  by  too 
early  a  marriage.  The  doors  of  society  that  are  freely 
open  to  a  bachelor  are  closed  to  a  married  couple 
with  small  means,  unless  they  bear  patent  recom- 
mendations such  as  the  public  recognition  of  a  natural 


CONCLUSION.  661 

nobility  would  give.  The  attitude  of  mind  that  I 
should  expect  to  predominate  among  those  who  had 
undeniable  claims  to  rank  as  members  of  an  excep- 
tionally gifted  race,  would  be  akin  to  that  of  the 
modern  possessors  of  ancestral  property  or  hereditary 
rank.  Such  persons  feel  it  a  point  of  honour  not  to 
alienate  the  old  place  or  make  misalliances,  and  they 
are  respected  for  their  honest  family  pride.  So  a  man 
of  good  race  would  shrink  from  spoiling  it  by  a  lower 
marriage,  and  every  one  would  sympathise  with  his 
sentiments. 


Conclusion. 

It  remains  to  sketch  in  outline  the  principal  con- 
clusions to  which  we  seem  to  be  driven  by  the  results 
of  the  various  inquiries  contained  in  this  volume,  and 
by  what  we  know  on  allied  topics  from  the  works  of 

others. 

AVe  cannot  but  recognise  the  vast  variety  of 
natural  faculty,  useful  and  harmful,  in  members  of 
the  same  race,  and  much  more  in  the  human  family 
at  large,  all  of  which  tend  to  be  transmitted  by 
inheritance.  Neither  can  we  fail  to  observe  that  the 
faculties  of  men  generally,  are  unequal  to  the  require- 
ments of  a  high  and  growing  civilisation.  This  is 
principally  owing  to  their  entire  ancestry  having  lived 
up  to  recent  times  under  very  uncivilised  conditions, 
and  to  the  somewhat  capricious  distribution  in  late 


332  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

times  of  inherited  wealth,  which  affords  various  de- 
grees of  immunity  from  the  usual  selective  agencies. 

In  solution  of  the  question  whether  a  continual 
improvement  in  education  might  not  compensate  for  a 
stationary  or  even  retrograde  condition  of  natural  gifts, 
I  made  inquiry  into  the  life  history  of  twins,  which 
resulted  in  proving  the  vastly  preponderating  effects 
of  nature  over  nurture. 

The  fact  that  the  very  foundation  and  outcome  of 
the  human  mind  is  dependent  on  race,  and  that  the 
qualities  of  races  vary,  and  therefore  that  humanity 
taken  as  a  whole  is  not  fixed  but  variable,  compels  us 
to  reconsider  what  may  be  the  true  place  and  function 
of  man  in  the  order  of  the  world.  I  have  examined 
this  question  freely  from  many  points  of  view,  be- 
cause whatever  may  be  the  vehemence  with  which 
particular  opinions  are  insisted  upon,  its  solution  is 
unquestionably  doubtful.  There  is  a  wide  and  grow- 
ing conviction  among  truth-seeking,  earnest,  humble- 
minded,  and  thoughtful  men,  both  in  this  country 
and  abroad,  that  our  cosmic  relations  are  by  no  means 
so  clear  and  simple  as  they  are  popularly  supposed 
to  be,  while  the  worthy  and  intelligent  teachers  of 
various  creeds,  who  have  strong  persuasions  on  the 
character  of  those  relations,  do  not  concur  in  their 
several  views. 

The  results  of  the  inquiries  I  have  made  into 
certain  alleged  forms  of  our  relations  with  the  unseen 
world  do  not,  so  far  as  they  go,  confirm  the  common 
doctrines.    That,  for  example,  on  the  objective  efficacy 


CONCLUSION.  333 

of  prayer  was  decidedly  negative,  though  I  showed 
that  while  it  contradicted  the  commonly  expressed 
doctrine,  it  concurred  with  the  almost  universal  prac- 
tical opinion  of  the  present  day.  Another  inquiry 
into  visions  showed  that,  however  ill  explained  they 
may  still  be,  they  belong  for  the  most  part,  if  not 
altogether,  to  an  order  of  phenomena  which  no  one 
dreams  in  other  cases  of  calling  supernatural.  Many 
investigations  concur  in  showing  the  vast  multiplicity 
of  mental  operations  that  are  in  simultaneous  action, 
of  which  only  a  minute  part  falls  within  the  ken  of 
consciousness,  and  suggest  that  much  of  what  passes 
for  supernatural  is  due  to  one  portion  of  our  mind 
being  contemplated  by  another  portion  of  it,  as  if  it 
had  been  that  of  another  person.  The  term  "  indivi- 
duality "  is  in  fact  a  most  misleading  word. 

I  do  not  for  a  moment  wish  to  imply  that  the  few 
inquiries  published  in  this  volume  exhaust  the  list  of 
those  that  might  be  made,  for  I  distinctly  hold  the 
contrary,  but  I  refer  to  them  in  corroboration  of  the 
previous  assertion  that  our  relations  with  the  unseen 
world  are  different  to  those  we  are  commonly  taught 
to  believe. 

In  our  doubt  as  to  the  character  of  our  mysterious 
relations  with  the  unseen  ocean  of  actual  and  poten- 
tial life  by  which  we  are  surrounded,  the  generally 
accepted  fact  of  the  solidarity  of  the  universe — that 
is,  of  the  intimate  connections  between  distant  parts 
that  bind  it  together  as  a  whole — justifies  us,  I  think, 
in  looking  upon  ourselves  as  members  of  a  vast  system 
which  in  one  of  its  aspects  resembles  a  cosmic  republic. 


334  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

On  the  one  hand,  we  know  that  evolution  has  pro- 
ceeded during  an  enormous  time  on  this  earth,  under, 
so  far  as  we  can  gather,  a  system  of  rigorous  causa- 
tion, with  no  economy  of  time  or  of  instruments, 
and  with  no  show  of  special  ruth  for  those  who  may 
in  pure  ignorance  have  violated  the  conditions  of  life. 

On  the  other  hand,  while  recognising  the  awful 
mystery  of  conscious  existence  and  the  inscrutable 
background  of  evolution,  we  find  that  as  the  foremost 
outcome  of  many  and  long  birth -throes,  intelligent 
and  kindly  man  finds  himself  in  being.  He  knows 
how  petty  he  is,  but  he  also  perceives  that  he  stands 
here  on  this  particular  earth,  at  this  particular  time,  as 
the  heir  of  untold  ages  and  in  the  van  of  circumstance. 
He  ought  therefore,  I  think,  to  be  less  diffident  than 
he  is  usually  instructed  to  be,  and  to  rise  to  the  con- 
ception that  he  has  a  considerable  function  to  perform 
in  the  order  of  events,  and  that  his  exertions  are 
needed.  It  seems  to  me  that  he  should  look  upon 
himself  more  as  a  freeman,  with  power  of  shaping  the 
course  of  future  humanity,  and  that  he  should  look 
upon  himself  less  as  the  subject  of  a  despotic  govern- 
ment; in  which  case  it  would  be  his  chief  merit  to 
depend  wholly  upon  what  had  been  regulated  for  him, 
and  to  render  abject  obedience. 

The  question  then  arises  as  to  the  way  in  which 
man  can  assist  in  the  order  of  events.  I  reply,  by 
furthering  the  course  of  evolution.  He  may  use  his 
intelligence  to  discover  and  expedite  the  changes  that 
are  necessary  to  adapt  circumstance  to  race  and  race 


CONCLUSION.  335 

to  circumstance,  and  his  kindly  sympathy  will  urge 
him  to  effect  them  mercifully. 

"When  we  begin  to  inquire,  with  some  misgiving 
perhaps,  as  to  the  evidence  that  man  has  present 
power  to  influence  the  quality  of  future  humanity,  we 
soon  discover  that  his  past  influence  in  that  direction 
has  been  very  large  indeed.  It  has  been  exerted 
hitherto  for  other  ends  than  that  which  is  now  con- 
templated, such  as  for  conquest  or  emigration,  also 
through  social  conditions  whose  effects  upon  race 
were  imperfectly  foreseen.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  hitherto  unused  means  of  his  influence  are 
also  numerous  and  great.  I  have  not  cared  to  go 
much  into  detail  concerning  these,  but  restricted 
myself  to  a  few  broad  considerations,  as  by  showing 
how  largely  the  balance  of  population  becomes  affected 
by  the  earlier  marriages  of  some  of  its  classes,  and  by 
pointing  out  the  great  influence  that  endowments 
have  had  in  checking:  the  marriage  of  monks  and 
scholars,  and  therefore  the  yet  larger  influence  they 
might  be  expected  to  have  if  they  were  directed  not 
to  thwart  but  to  harmonise  with  natural  inclination, 
by  promoting  early  marriages  in  the  classes  to  be 
favoured.  I  also  showed  that  a  powerful  influence 
might  flow  from  a  public  recognition  in  early  life  of 
the  true  value  of  the  probability  of  future  perform- 
ance, as  based  on  the  past  performance  of  the  ances- 
tors of  the  child.  It  is  an  element  of  forecast,  in 
addition  to  that  of  present  personal  merit,  which  has 
yet  to  be  appraised  and  recognised.     Its  recognition 


336  INQUIRIES   INTO   HUMAN   FACULTY. 

would  attract  assistance  in  various  ways,  impossible 
now  to  specify,  to  the  young  families  of  those  who 
were  most  likely  to  stock  the  world  with  healthy, 
moral,  intelligent,  and  fair-natured  citizens.  The 
stream  of  charity  is  not  unlimited,  and  it  is  requisite 
for  the  speedier  evolution  of  a  more  perfect  humanity 
that  it  should  be  so  distributed  as  to  favour  the  best- 
adapted  races.  I  have  not  spoken  of  the  repression 
of  the  rest,  believing  that  it  would  ensue  indirectly 
as  a  matter  of  course ;  but  I  may  add  that  few  would 
deserve  better  of  their  country  than  those  who  deter- 
mine to  live  celibate  lives,  through  a  reasonable  con- 
viction that  their  issue  would  probably  be  less  fitted 
than  the  generality  to  play  their  part  as  citizens. 

It  would  be  easy  to  add  to  the  number  of  possible 
agencies  by  which  the  evolution  of  a  higher  humanity 
might  be  furthered,  but  it  is  premature  to  do  so  until 
the  importance  of  attending  to  the  improvement  of 
our  race  shall  have  been  so  well  established  in  the 
popular  mind  that  a  discussion  of  them  would  be  likely 
to  receive  serious  consideration. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  insist  on  the  certainty 
that  our  present  imperfect  knowledge  of  the  limita- 
tions and  conditions  of  hereditary  transmission  will 
be  steadily  added  to  ;  but  I  would  call  attention 
again  to  the  serious  want  of  adequate  materials  for 
study  in  the  form  of  life -histories.  It  is  fortunately 
the  case  that  many  of  the  rising  medical  practitioners 
of  the  foremost  rank  are  become  strongly  impressed 
with  the  necessity  of  possessing  them,  not  only  for 


CONCLUSION.  337 

the  better  knowledge  of  the  theory  of  disease,  but  for 
the  personal  advantage  of  their  patients,  whom  they 
now  have  to  treat  less  appropriately  than  they  other- 
wise would,  through  ignorance  of  their  hereditary 
tendencies  and  of  their  illnesses  in  past  years,  the 
medical  details  of  which  are  rarely  remembered  by 
the  patient,  even  if  he  ever  knew  them.  "With  the 
help  of  so  powerful  a  personal  motive  for  keeping 
life -histories,  and  of  so  influential  a  body  as  the 
medical  profession  to  advocate  its  being  done,1  and  to 
show  how  to  do  it,  there  is  considerable  hope  that 
the  want  of  materials  to  wThich  I  have  alluded  will 
gradually  be  supplied. 

To  sum  up  in  a  few  words.  The  chief  result  of 
these  Inquiries  has  been  to  elicit  the  religious  signi- 
ficance of  the  doctrine  of  evolution.  It  suggests  an 
alteration  in  our  mental  attitude,  and  imposes  a  new 
moral  duty.  The  new  mental  attitude  is  one  of  a 
greater  sense  of  moral  freedom,  responsibility,  and 
opportunity ;  the  new  duty  which  is  siip>posed  to  be 
exercised  concurrently  with,  and  not  in  opposition  to 
the  old  ones  upon  which  the  social  fabric  depends,  is 
an  endeavour  to  further  evolution,  especially  that  of 
the  human  race. 

1  See  an  address  on  the  Collective  Investigation  of  Disease,  by  Sir 
William  Gull,  British  Medical  Journal,  January  27,  1883,  p.  143  ; 
also  the  following  address  by  Sir  James  Paget,  p.  144. 


APPENDIX. 


A.— LIST  OF  MEMOIRS. 

The  following  Memoirs  by  the  author  have  been  freely  made  use 
of  in  the  foregoing  pages  : — 

18C3.     The  First  Steps  towards  the  Domestication  of  Animals. 
Journal  of  Ethnological  Society. 

1871.  Gregariousness  in  Cattle  and  in  Men.    Macmillaris  Maga- 

zine. 

1872.  Statistical  Inquiries  into  the  Efficacy  of  Prayer.     Fort- 

nightly Review. 

1873.  Relative  Supplies  from  Town  and  Country  Families  to  the 

Population  of  Future  Generations.  "  Journal  of  Statistical 

Socii  hi. 
Hereditary  Improvement.     Eraser's  Magazine. 
Africa  for  the  Chinese.      Times,  June  G. 

1875.  Statistics  by  Intercomparison.     Philosophical  Magazine. 
Twins,   as  a  Criterion  of  the  Relative  Power  of  Nature 

and  Nurture.    Eraser's  Magazine,  and  Journal  of  Anthro- 
pological Institute. 

1876.  "Whistles  for  Determining  the  Upper  Limits  of  Audible 

Sound.     S.  Kensington  (\in fer< nets  (in  connection  with 
the  Loan  Exhibition  of  Scientific  Instruments),  p.  Gl. 

1877.  Presidential  Address  to  the  Anthropological  Department 

of  the    British  Association  at  Plymouth.     Report  of 
British  Association. 

1878.  Composite  Portraits.     Nature,  May  23,  and  Journal  of 

Anthropological  Institute. 
1S79.     Psychometric  Experiments.  Nineteenth  Century,  and  Brain, 
part  vi. 


COMPOSITE  PORTRAITUEE.  339 

1879.  Generic    Images.      Nineteenth    Century;    Proceedings    of 

Royal  Institution,  with  plates. 
Geometric  mean  in  Vital  and  Social  Statistics.     Proceed- 
ings of  Royal  Society. 

1880.  Visualised  Numerals.     Nature,  Jan.  15  and  March  25, 

and  Journal  of  Anthropological  Institute. 
Mental  Imagery.     Fortnightly  Review;  Mind. 

1881.  Visions  of  Sane  Persons.    Fortnightly  Review,  and  Proceed- 

ings of  Royal  Institution. 
Composite  Portraiture.     Journal  of  Photographical  Society 
of  Great  Britain,  June  24. 

1 882.  Physiognomy  of  Phthisis.    Guy's  Hospital  Reports,  vol.  xxv. 
Photographic  Chronicles  from  Childhood  to  Age.     Fort- 
nightly Review. 

The  Anthropometric  Laboratory.     Fortnightly  Review. 

1883.  Some  Apparatus  for  Testing  the  Delicacy  of  the  Mus- 

cular and  other  Senses.     (In   course  of  publication.) 
Journal  of  Anthropological  Institute. 


The  following  books  by  the  author  have  been  referred  or 
alluded  to  in  the  foregoing  pages  : — 

1853.  Narrative   of   an  Explorer  in   Tropical   South -"Western 

Africa.     (Murray.) 

1854.  Art  of  Travel  (several  subsequent  editions,  the  last  in 

1872).     (Murray.) 

1869.  Hereditary  Genius,  its  Laws  and  Consequences.  (Muc- 
in ill  an.) 

1874.  English  Men  of  Science,  their  Nature  and  their  Nurture. 
(Macmillan.) 


B.—  COMPOSITE  POPcTEAITUKE. 

The  object  and  methods  of  Composite  Portraiture  will  be  best 
explained  by  the  following  extracts  from  memoirs  describing  its 
successive  stages,  published  in  1878,  1879,  and  1881  respec- 
tively :— 


1 
340  APPENDIX. 


I.  Composite  Portraits,  made  by  combining  those  of  many 

DIFFERENT  PERSONS  INTO  A  SINGLE  RESULTANT  FIGURE. 

[Extract  from  Memoir  read  before  the  Anthropological  Institute, 

in  1878.] 

I  submit  to  the  Anthropological  Institute  my  first  results  in 
carrying  out  a  process  that  I  suggested  last  August  [1877]  in 
my  presidential  address  to  the  Anthropological  Subsection  of  the 
British  Association  at  Plymouth,  in  the  following  words : — 

"  Having  obtained  drawings  or  photographs  of  several  persons  alike 
in  most  respects,  but  differing  in  minor  details,  what  sure  method  is 
there  of  extracting  the  typical  characteristics  from  them  ?  I  may 
mention  a  plan  which  had  occurred  both  to  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  and 
myself,  the  principle  of  which  is  to  superimpose  optically  the  various 
drawings,  and  to  accept  the  aggregate  result.  Mr.  Spencer  suggested 
to  me  in  conversation  that  the  drawings  reduced  to  the  same  scale 
might  be  traced  on  separate  pieces  of  transparent  paper  and  secured 
one  upon  another,  and  then  held  between  the  eye  and  the  light.  I 
have  attempted  this  with  some  success.  My  own  idea  was  to  throw 
faint  images  of  the  several  portraits,  in  succession,  upon  the  same  sen- 
sitised photographic  plate.'  I  may  add  that  it  is  perfectly  easy  to 
superimpose  optically  two  portraits  by  means  of  a  stereoscope,  and  that 
a  person  who  is  used  to  handle  instruments  will  find  a  common  double 
eyeglass  fitted  with  stereoscopic  lenses  to  be  almost  as  effectual  and  far 
handier-  than  the  boxes  sold  in  shops." 

Mr.  Spencer,  as  he  informed  me,  had  actually  devised  an 
instrument,  many  years  ago,  for  tracing  mechanically,  longitudinal, 
transverse,  and  horizontal  sections  of  heads  on  transparent  paper, 
intending  to  superimpose  them,  and  to  obtain  an  average  result 
by  transmitted  light. 

Since  my  address  was  published,  I  have  caused  trials  to  be 
made,  and  have  found,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that  the  photographic 
process  of  which  I  there  spoke  enables  us  to  obtain  with  mechani- 
cal precision  a  generalised  picture ;  one  that  represents  no  man 
in  particular,  but  portrays  an  imaginary  figure  possessing  the 
average  features  of  any  given  group  of  men.  These  ideal  faces 
have  a  surprising  air  of  reality.  Nobody  who  glanced  at  one  of 
them  for  the  first  time  would  doubt  its  beinsr  the  likeness  of  a 


COMPOSITE   PORTRAITURE. 


341 


living  person,  yet,  as  I  have  said,  it  is  no  such  thing ;  it  is  the 
portrait  of  a  type  and  not  of  an  individual. 

I  begin  by  collecting  photographs  of  the  persons  Avith  whom 
I  propose  to  deal.  They  must  be  similar  in  attitude  and  size, 
but  no  exactness  is  necessary  in  either  of  these  respects.  Then, 
by  a  simple  contrivance,  I  make  two  pinholes  in  each  of  them,  to 
enable  me  to  hang  them  up  one  in  front  of  the  other,  like  a  pack 
of  cards,  upon  the  same  pair  qf  pins,  in  such  a  Avay  that  the  eyes 
of  all  the  portraits  shall  be  as  nearly  as  possible  superimposed ; 
in  which  case  the  remainder  of  the  features  will  also  be  super- 
imposed nearly  enough.  These  pinholes  correspond  to  Avhat  are 
technically  known  to  printers  as  "register  marks."  They  are 
easily  made :  A  slip  of  brass  or  card  has  an  aperture  cut  out  of 
its  middle,  and  threads  are  stretched  from  opposite  sides,  making 


a  cross.1  Two  small  holes  are  drilled  in  the  plate,  one  on  either 
side  of  the  aperture.  The  slip  of  brass  is  laid  on  the  portrait 
with  the  aperture  over  its  face.  It  is  turned  about  until  one  of 
the  cross  threads  cuts  the  pupils  of  both  the  eyes,  and  it  is  further 
adjusted  until  the  other  thread  divides  the  interval  between  the 
pupils  in  two  equal  parts.  Then  it  is  held  firmly,  and  a  prick  is 
made  through  each  of  the  holes. 

The  portraits  being  thus  arranged,  a  photographic  camera  is 
directed  upon  them.  Suppose  there  are  eight  portraits  in  the 
pack,  and  that  under  existing  circumstances  it  would  require  an 
exposure  of  eighty  seconds  to  give  an  exact  photographic  copy  of 
any  one  of  them.      The  getneral  principle  of  proceeding  is  this, 

1  I  am  indebted  for  the  woodcuts  to  the  Editor  of  Nature,   in  which 
journal  this  memoir  first  appeared. 


342 


APPENDIX. 


subject  in  practice  to  some  variations  of  detail,  depending  on  the 
different  brightness  of  the  several  portraits.  We  throw  the  image 
of  each  of  the  eight  portraits  in  turn  upon  the  same  part  of  the 
sensitised  plate  for  ten  seconds.  Thus,  portrait  No.  1  is  in  the 
front  of  the  pack ;  Ave  take  the  cap  off  the  object  glass  of  the 
camera  for  ten  seconds,  and  afterwards  replace  it.  We  then 
remove  No.  1  from  the  pins,  and  No.  2  appears  in  the  front ;  we 
take  off  the  cap  a  second  time  for  ten  seconds,  and  again  replace 
it.    Next  Ave  remove  No.  2,  and  No.  3  appears  in  the  front,  which 


Ave  treat  as  its  predecessors,  and  so  Ave  go  on  to  the  last  of  the 
pack  The  sensitised  plate  Avill  iioav  have  had  its  total  exposure 
of  eighty  seconds  ;  it  is  then  developed,  and  the  print  taken  from 
it  is  the  generalised  picture  of  Avhich  I  speak.  It  is  a  composite 
of  eight  component  portraits.  Those  of  its  outlines  are  sharpest 
and  darkest  that  are  common  to  the  largest  number  of  the  com- 
ponents ;  the  purely  individual  peculiarities  leave  little  or  no 
visible  trace.  The  latter  being  necessarily  disposed  equally  on 
both  sides  of  the  average,  the  outline  of  the  composite  is  the 
average  of  all  the  components.  It  is  a  band  and  not  a  fine  line, 
because  the  outlines  of  the  components  are  seldom  exactly  super- 
imposed. The  band  will  be  darkest  in  its  middle  Avhenever  the 
component  portraits  have  the  same  general  type  of  features,  and 
its  breadth,  or  amount  of  blur,  will  measure  the  tendency  of  the 
components  to  deviate  from  the  common  type.  This  is  so  for 
the  very  same  reason  that  the  shot-marks  on  a  target  are  more 
thickly  disposed  near  the  bull's-eye  than  away  from  it,  and  in  a 
<jreater  decree  as  the  marksmen  are  more  skilful.  All  that  has 
been  said  of  the  outlines  is  equally  true  as  regards  the  shadoAvs ; 
the  result  being  that  the  composite  represents  an  averaged  figure, 
Avhose  lineaments  have  been  softly  drawn.  The  eyes  come  out 
with  appropriate  distinctness,  OAving  to  the  mechanical  conditions 
under  Avhich  the  components  are  hung. 


COMPOSITE  PORTRAITURE.  343 

A  composite  portrait  represents  the  picture  that  would  rise 
before  the  mind's  eye  of  a  man  who  had  the  gift  of  pictorial 
imagination  in  an  exalted  degree.  But  the  imaginative  power 
even  of  the  highest  artists  is  far  from  precise,  and  is  so  apt  to  be 
biassed  by  special  cases  that  may  have  struck  their  fancies,  that 
no  two  artists  agree  in  any  of  their  typical  forms.  The  merit  of 
the  photographic  composite  is  its  mechanical  precision,  being 
subject  to  no  errors  beyond  those  incidental  to  all  photographic 
productions. 

I  submit  several  composites  made  for  me  by  Mr.  H.  Reynolds. 
The  first  set  of  portraits  are  those  of  criminals  convicted  of  murder, 
manslaughter,  or  robbery  accompanied  with  violence.  It  will  be 
observed  that  the  features  of  the  composites  are  much  better 
looking  than  those  of  the  components.  The  special  villainous 
irregularities  in  the  latter  have  disappeared,  and  the  common 
humanity  that  underlies  them  has  prevailed.  They  represent, 
not  the  criminal,  but  the  man  who  is  liable  to  fall  into  crime. 
All  composites  are  better  looking  than  their  components,  because 
the  averaged  portrait  of  many  persons  is  free  from  the  irregulari- 
ties that  variously  blemish  the  looks  of  each  of  them. 

I  selected  these  for  my  first  trials  because  I  happened  to 
possess  a  large  collection  of  photographs  of  criminals,  through 
the  kindness  of  Sir  Edmund  Du  Cane,  the  Director-General  of 
Prisons,  for  the  purpose  of  investigating  criminal  types.  They 
were  peculiarly  adapted  to  my  present  purpose,  being  all  made 
of  about  the  same  size,  and  taken  in  much  the  same  attitudes. 
It  was  while  endeavouring  to  elicit  the  principal  criminal  types 
by  methods  of  optical  superimposition  of  the  portraits,  such  as  I 
had  frequently  employed  with  maps  and  meteorological  traces,1 
that  the  idea  of  composite  figures  first  occurred  to  me. 

The  other  set  of  composites  are  made  from  pairs  of  compo- 
nents. They  are  selected  to  show  the  extraordinary  facility  of 
combining  almost  any  two  faces  whose  proportions  are  in  any 
way  similar. 

It  will,  I  am  sure,  surprise  most  persons  to  see  how  well 
defined  these  composites  are.     When  we  deal  with  faces  of  the 

1  Conference  at  tJic  Loan  Exhibition  of  Scientific  Instruments,  1878.  Chap- 
man and  Hall.  Physical  Geography  Section,  p.  312,  On  Means  of  Combinimj 
Various  Data  in  Maps  and  Diagrams,  by  Francis  Galton,  F.R.S. 


344  APPENDIX. 

same  type,  the  points  of  similarity  far  outnumber  those  of  dis- 
similarity, and  there  is  a  much  greater  resemblance  between  faces 
generally  than  we  who  turn  our  attention  to  individual  differences 
are  apt  to  appreciate.  A  traveller  on  his  first  arrival  among 
people  of  a  race  very  different  to  his  own  thinks  them  closely 
alike,  and  a  Hindu  has  much  difficulty  in  distinguishing  one 
Englishman  from  another. 


The  accompanying  woodcut  is  as  fair  a  representation  of  one  of  the  composites  as  is  prac- 
ticable in  ordinary  printing.  It  was  photographically  transferred  to  the  wood,  and  the 
engraver  has  used  his  best  endeavour  to  translate  the  shades  into  line  engraving.  This 
composite  is  made.out  of  only  three  components,  and  its  threefold  origin  is  to  be  traced 
in  the  ears,  and  in  the  buttons  to  the  vest.  To  the  best  of  my  judgment,  the  original 
photograph  is  a  very  exact  average  of  its  components ;  not  one  feature  in  it  appears 
identical  with  that  of  any  one  of  them,  but  it  contains  a  resemblance  to  all,  and  is  not 
more  like  to  one  of  them  than  to  another.  However,  the  judgment  of  the  wood  engraver 
is  different.  His  rendering  of  the  composite  has  made  it  exactly  like  one  of  its  compo- 
nents, which  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  he  had  never  seen.  It  is  just  as  though  an 
artist  drawing  a  child  had  produced  a  portrait  closely  resembling  its  deceased  father, 
having  overlooked  an  equally  strong  likeness  to  its  deceased  mother,  which  was 
apparent  to  its  relatives.  This  is  to  me  a  most  striking  proof  that  the  composite  is  a 
true  combination. 

The  fairness  with  which  photographic  composites  represent 
their  components  is  shown  by  six  of  the  specimens.  I  wished  to 
learn  whether  the  order  in  which  the  components  were  photo- 
graphed made  any  material  difference  in  the  result,  so  I  had  three 
of  the  portraits  arranged  successively  in  each  of  their  six  possible 


COMPOSITE   PORTRAITURE.  345 

combinations.  It  will  be  observed  that  four  at  least  of  the  six 
composites  are  closely  alike.  I  should  say  that  in  each  of  this 
set  (which  was  made  by  the  wet  process)  the  last  of  the  three 
components  was  always  allowed  a  longer  exposure  than  the 
second,  and  the  second  than  the  first,  but  it  is  found  better  to 
allow  an  equal  time  to  all  of  them. 

The  stereoscope,  as-  I  stated  last  August  in  my  address  at 
Plymouth,  affords  a  very  easy  method  of  optically  superimposing 
two  portraits,  and  I  have  much  pleasure  in  quoting  the  following 
letter,  pointing  out  this  fact  as  well  as  some  other  conclusions  to 
which  I  also  had  arrived.  The  letter  Avas  kindly  forwarded  to 
me  by  Mr.  Darwin  ;  it  is  dated  last  November,  and  was  written 
to  him  by  Mr.  A.  L.  Austin,  from  New  Zealand,  thus  affording 
another  of  the  many  curious  instances  of  two  persons  being  inde- 
pendently engaged  in  the  same  novel  inquiry  at  nearly  the  same 
time,  and  coming  to  similar  results  : — 

"  IxVERCARGILL,  NEW  ZeALAXD, 

"November  6th,  1877. 
"  To  Charles  Darwix,  Esq. 

"  Sir, — Although  a  perfect  stranger  to  you,  and  living  on  the 
reverse  side  of  the  globe,  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  writing  to  you  on 
a  small  discovery  I  have  made  in  binocular  vision  in  the  stereoscope. 
I  find  by  taking  two  ordinary  carte-de-visite  photos  of  two  different 
persons'  faces,  the  portraits  being  about  the  same  sizes,  and  looking 
about  the  same  direction,  and  placing  them  in  a  stereoscope,  the  faces 
blend  into  one  in  a  most  remarkable  manner,  producing  in  the  case  of 
some  ladies'  portraits,  in  every  instance,  a  decided  improvement  in  beauty. 
The  pictiires  were  not  taken  in  a  binocular  camera,  and  therefore  do 
not  stand  out  well,  but  by  moving  one  or  both  until  the  eyes  coincide 
in  the  stereoscope  the  pictures  blend  perfectly.  If  taken  in  a  binocular 
camera  for  the  purpose,  each  person  being  taken  on  one  half  of  the 
negative,  I  am  sure  the  results  would  be  still  more  striking.  Perhaps 
something  might  be  made  of  this  in  regard  to  the  expression  of  emotions 
in  man  and  the  lower  animals,  &c.  I  have  not  time  or  opportunities 
to  make  experiments,  but  it  seems  to  me  something  might  be  made  of 
this  by  photographing  the  faces  of  different  animals,  different  races  of 
mankind,  &c.  I  think  a  stereoscopic  view  of  one  of  the  ape  tribe  and 
some  low-caste  human  face  would  make  a  very  curious  mixture  ;  also 
in  the  matter  of  crossing  of  animals  and  tl\e  resulting  offspring.      It 


346  APPENDIX. 

seems  to  me  something  also  might  result  in  photos  of  husband  ami  wife 
and  children,  &c.  In  any  case,  the  results  are  curious,  if  it  leads  to 
nothing  else.  Should  this  come  to  anything  you  will  no  doubt  acknow- 
ledge myself  as  suggesting  the  experiment,  and  perhaps  send  me  some 
of  the  results.  If  not  likely  to  come  to  anything,  a  reply  would  much 
oblige  me. 

"  Yours  very  truly, 

"A.   L.  AUSTIN,   C.E.,   F.R.A.S." 

Dr.  Carpenter  informs  me  that  the  late  Mr.  Appold,  the 
mechanician,  used  to  combine  two  portraits  of  himself  under  the 
stereoscope.  The  one  had  been  taken  with  an  assumed  stern 
expression,  the  other  with  a  smile,  and  this  combination  produced 
a  curious  and  effective  blending  of  the  two. 

Convenient  as  the  stereoscope  is,  owing  to  its  accessibility, 
for  determining  whether  any  two  portraits  are  suitable  in  size  and 
attitude  to  form  a  good  composite,  it  is  nevertheless  a  makeshift 
and  imperfect  way  of  attaining  the  required  result.  It  cannot  of 
itself  combine  two  images ;  it  can  only  place  them  so  that  the 
office  of  attempting  to  combine  them  may  be  undertaken  by  the 
brain.  Now  the  two  separate  impressions  received  by  the  brain 
through  the  stereoscope  do  not  seem  to  me  to  be  relatively  con- 
stant in  their  vividness,  but  sometimes  the  image  seen  by  the  left 
eye  prevails  over  that  seen  by  the  right,  and  vice  versa.  All  the 
other  instruments  I  am  about  to  describe  accomplish  that  which 
the  stereoscope  fails  to  do  ;  they  create  true  optical  combinations. 
As  regards  other  points  in  Mr.  Austin's  letter,  I  cannot  think  that 
the  use  of  a  binocular  camera  for  taking  the  two  portraits  intended 
to  be  combined  into  one  by  the  stereoscope  would  be  of  import- 
ance. All  that  is  wanted  is  that  the  portraits  should  be  nearly 
of  the  same  size.  In  every  other  respect  I  cordially  agree  with 
Mr.  Austin. 

The  best  instrument  I  have  as  yet  contrived  and  used  for 
optical  superimposition  is  a  "  double-image  prism "  of  Iceland 
spar.  The  latest  that  I  have  had  were  procured  for  me  by  Mr. 
Tisley,  optician,  172  Brompton  Road.  They  have  a  clear  aper- 
ture of  a  square,  half  an  inch  in  the  side,  and  when  held  at  right 
angles  to  the  line  of  sight  will  separate  the  ordinary  and  extraor- 
dinary images  to  the  amount  of  two  inches,  when  the  object 
viewed  is  held  at  seventeen  inches  from  the  eye.     This  is  quite 


COMPOSITE  PORTRAITURE. 


347 


sufficient  for  working  with  carte-de-visite  portraits.  One  image 
is  quite  achromatic,  the  other  shows  a  little  colour.  The  diverg- 
ence may  he  varied  and  adjusted  hy  inclining  the  prism  to  the 


Fig.  1  shows  the  simple  apparatus  which  carries  the  prism  and  on  which  the  photograph 
is  mounted.  The  former  is  set  in  a  round  bos  which  can  be  rotated  in  the  ring  at  the 
end  of  the  arm  and  can  be  clamped  when  adjusted.  The  arm  can  be  rotated  and  can 
also  be  pulled  out  or  in  if  desired,  and  clamped.  The  floor  of  the  instrument  is  over- 
laid with  cork  covered  with  black  cloth,  on  which  the  components  can  easily  be  fixed 
by  drawing-pins.  When  using  it,  one  portrait  is  pinned  down  and  the  other  is  moved 
near  to  it,  overlapping  its  margin  if  necessary,  until  the  eye  looking  through  the  prism 
sees  the  required  combination  ;  then  the  second  portrait  is  pinned  down  also.  It  may 
now  receive  its  register-marks  from  needles  fixed  in  a  hinged  arm,  and  this  is  a  more 
generally  applicable  method  than  the  plan  with  cross  threads,  already  described,  as 
any  desired  feature — the  nose,  the  ear,  or  the  hand,  may  thus  be  selected  for  composite 
purposes.  Let  a,  b,  c,  .  .  .  y,  z,  be  the  components,  a  is  pinned  down,  and  b,  c, 
.  .  .  v,  z  ;  are  successfully  combined  with  a,  and  registered.  Then  before  removing 
z,  take  away  a  and  substitute  any  other  of  the  already  registered  portraits,  say  b,  by 
combining  it  with  z  ;  lastly,  remove  z  and  substitute  a  by  combining  it  with  b,  and 
register  it.  Fig.  2  shows  one  of  three  similarly  jointed  arms,  which  clamp  on  to  the 
vertical  rod.  Two  of  these  carry  a  light  frame  covered  with  cork  and  cloth,  and  the 
other  carries  Fig.  3,  which  is  a  frame  having  lenses  of  different  powers  set  into  it,  and 
on  which,  or  on  the  third  frame,  a  small  mirror  inclined  at  45°  may  be  laid.  When  a 
portrait  requires  foreshortening  it  can  be  pinned  on  one  of  these  frames  and  be  inclined 
to  the  line  of  sight ;  when  it  is  smaller  than  its  fellow  it  can  be  brought  nearer  to  the 
eye  and  an  appropriate  lens  interposed  ;  when  a  right-sided  profile  has  to  be  combined 
with  a  left-handed  one,  it  must  be  pinned  on  one  of  the  frames  and  viewed  by  reflection 
from  the  mirror  in  the  other.  The  apparatus  I  have  drawn  is  roughly  made,  and  being 
chiefly  of  wood  is  rather  clumsy,  but  it  acts  well. 

line  of  sight.      By  its  means  the  ordinary  image  of  one  component 
is  thrown  upon  the  extraordinary  image  of  the  other,  and  the 


348  APPENDIX. 

composite  may  be  viewed  by  the  naked  eye,  or  through  a  lens  of 
long  focus,  or  through  an  opera-glass  (a  telescope  is  not  so  good) 
fitted  with  a  sufficiently  long  draw-tube  to  see  an  object  at  that 
short  distance  with  distinctness.  Portraits  of  somewhat  different 
sizes  may  be  combined  by  placing  the  larger  one  farther  from 
the  eye,  and  a  long  face  may  be  fitted  to  a  short  one  by  inclining 
and  foreshortening  the  former.  The  slight  fault  of  focus  thereby 
occasioned  produces  little  or  no  sensible  ill  effect  on  the  appear- 
ance of  the  composite. 

The  front,  or  the  profile,  faces  of  two  living  persons  sitting 
side  by  side  or  one  behind  the  other,  can  be  easily  superimposed 
by  a  double-image  prism.  Two  such  prisms  set  one  behind  the 
other  can  be  made  to  give  four  images  of  equal  brightness,  occu- 
pying the  four  corners  of  a  rhombus  whose  acute  angles  are  45°. 
Three  prisms  will  give  eight  images,  but  this  is  practically  not  a 
good  combination  ;  the  images  fail  in  distinctness,  and  are  too 
near  together  for  use.  Again,  each  lens  of  a  stereoscope  of  long 
focus  can  have  one  or  a  pair  of  these  prisms  attached  to  it,  and 
four  or  eight  images  may  be  thus  combined. 

Another  instrument  I  have  made  consists  of  a  piece  of  glass 
inclined  at  a  very  acute  angle  to  the  line  of  sight,  and  of  a 
mirror  beyond  it,  also  inclined,  but  in  the  opposite  direction  to 
the  line  of  sight.  Two  rays  of  light  will  therefore  reach  the  eye 
from  each  point  of  the  glass  ;  the  one  has  been  reflected  from  its 
surface,  and  the  other  has  been  first  reflected  from  the  mirror, 
and  then  transmitted  through  the  glass.  The  glass  used  should 
be  extremely  thin,  to  avoid  the  blur  due  to  double  reflections  ;  it 
may  be  a  selected  piece  from  those  made  to  cover  microscopic 
specimens.  The  principle  of  the  instrument  may  be  yet  further 
developed  by  interposing  additional  pieces  of  glass,  successively 
less  inclined  to  the  line  of  sight,  and  each  reflecting  a  different 
portrait. 

1  have  tried  many  other  plans  ;  indeed  the  possible  methods 
of  optically  superimposing  two  or  more  images  are  very  numerous. 
Thus  I  have  used  a  sextant  (with  its  telescope  attached);  also 
strips  of  mirrors  placed  at  different  angles,  their  several  reflec- 
tions being  simultaneously  viewed  through  a  telescope.  I  have 
also  used  a  divided  lens,  like  two  stereoscopic  lenses  brought 
close  together,  in  front  of  the  object  glass  of  a  telescope. 


COMPOSITE  PORTRAITURE.  349 


II.  Genekic  Images. 


[Extract  from  Proceedings  Royal  Institution,  25th  April  1879.] 

Our  general  impressions  are  founded  upon  blended  memories, 
and  these  latter  will  be  the  chief  topic  of  the  present  discourse. 
An  analogy  will  be  pointed  out  between  these  and  the  blended 
portraits  first  described  by  myself  a  year  ago  under  the  name  of 
"  Composite  Portraits,"  and  specimens  of  the  latter  will  be  ex- 
hibited. 

The  physiological  basis  of  memory  is  simple  enough  in  its 
broad  outlines.  Whenever  any  group  of  brain  elements  has  been 
excited  by  a  sense  impression,  it  becomes,  so  to  speak,  tender,  and 
liable  to  be  easily  thrown  again  into  a  similar  state  of  excitement. 
If  the  new  cause  of  excitement  differs  from  the  original  one,  a 
memory  is  the  result.  "Whenever  a  single  cause  throws  different 
groups  of  brain  elements  simultaneously  into  excitement,  the 
result  must  be  a  blended  memory. 

We  are  familiar  with  the  fact  that  faint  memories  are  very 
apt  to  become  confused.  Thus  some  picture  of  mountain  and 
lake  in  a  country  which  we  have  never  visited,  often  recalls  a 
vague  sense  of  identity  with  much  we  have  seen  elsewhere.  Our 
recollections  cannot  be  disentangled,  though  general  resemblances 
are  recognised.  It  is  also  a  fact  that  the  memories  of  persons 
who  have  great  powers  of  visualising,  that  is,  of  seeing  well-de- 
fined images  in  the  mind's  eye,  are  no  less  capable  of  being 
blended  together.  Artists  are,  as  a  class,  possessed  of  the  visual- 
ising power  in  a  high  degree,  and  they  are  at  the  same  time  pre- 
eminently distinguished  by  their  gifts  of  generalisation.  They 
are  of  all  men  the  most  capable  of  producing  forms  that  are  not 
copies  of  any  individual,  but  represent  the  characteristic  features 
of  classes. 

There  is  then,  no  doubt,  from  whatever  side  the  subject  of 
memory  is  approached,  whether  from  the  material  or  from  the 
mental,  and,  in  the  latter  case,  whether  Ave  examine  the  experi- 
ences of  those  in  whom  the  visualising  faculty  is  faint  or  in  whom 
it  is  strong,  that  the  brain  has  the  capacity  of  blending  memories 
together.  Neither  can  there  be  any  doubt  that  general  impres- 
sions are  faint  and  perhaps  faulty  editions  of  blended  memories. 


350  APPENDIX. 

They  are  subject  to  errors  of  their  own,  and  they  inherit  all  those 
to  which  the  memories  are  themselves  liable. 

Specimens  of  blended  portraits  will  now  be  exhibited ;  these 
might,  with  more  propriety,  be  named,  according  to  the  happy 
phrase  of  Professor  Huxley,  "  generic  "  portraits.  The  word 
generic  presupposes  a  genus,  that  is  to  say,  a  collection  of  indi- 
viduals who  have  much  in  common,  and  among  whom  medium 
characteristics  are  very  much  more  frequent  than  extreme  ones. 
The  same  idea  is  sometimes  expressed  by  the  word  "  typical," 
which  was  much  used  by  Quetelet,  who  was  the  first  to  give  it 
a  rigorous  interpretation,  and  whose  idea  of  a  type  lies  at  the 
basis  of  his  statistical  views.  No  statistician  dreams  of  combining 
objects  into  the  same  generic  group  that  do  not  cluster  towards 
a  common  centre ;  no  more  should  we  attempt  to  compose 
generic  portraits  out  of  heterogeneous  elements,  for  if  we  do  so 
the  result  is  monstrous  and  meaningless. 

It  might  be  expected  that  when  many  different  portraits  are 
fused  into  a  single  one,  the  result  would  be  a  mere  smudge. 
Such,  however,  is  by  no  means  the  case,  under  the  conditions 
just  laid  down,  of  a  great  prevalence  of  the  mediocre  character- 
istics over  the  extreme  ones.  There  are  then  so  many  traits  in 
common,  to  combine  and  to  reinforce  one  another,  that  the}'  pre- 
vail to  the  exclusion  of  the  rest.  All  that  is  common  remains,  all 
that  is  individual  tends  to  disappear. 

The  first  of  the  composites  exhibited  on  this  occasion  is 
made  by  conveying  the  images  of  three  separate  portraits  b}" 
means  of  three  separate  magic-lanterns  upon  the  same  screen. 
The  stands  on  which  the  lanterns  are  mounted  have  been  arranged 
to  allow  of  nice  adjustment.  The  composite  about  to  be  shown 
is  one  that  strains  the  powers  of  the  process  somewhat  too 
severely,  the  portraits  combined  being  those  of  two  brothers  and 
their  sister,  who  have  not  even  been  photographed  in  precisely 
the  same  attitudes.  Nevertheless,  the  result  is  seen  to  be  the 
production  of  a  face,  neither  male  nor  female,  but  more  regular 
and  handsome  than  any  of  the  component  portraits,  and  in  which 
the  common  family  traits  are  clearly  marked.  Ghosts  of  portions 
of  male  and  female  attire,  due  to  the  peculiarities  of  the  separate 
portraits,  are  seen  about  and  around  the  composite,  but  they  are 
not  sufficiently  vivid  to  distract  the  attention.     If  the  number  of 


COMPOSITE  PORTRAITURE.  351 

combined  portraits  had  been  large,  these  ghostly  accessories  would 
have  become  too  faint  to  be  visible. 

The  next  step  is  to  compare  this  portrait  of  two  brothers  and 
their  sister  which  has  been  composed  by  optical  means  before 
the  eyes  of  the  audience,  and  concerning  the  truthfulness  of 
which  there  can  be  no  doubt,  with  a  photographic  composite  of 
the  same  group.  The  latter  is  now  placed  in  a  fourth  magic- 
lantern  with  a  brighter  light  behind  it,  and  its  image  is  thrown 
on  the  screen  by  the  side  of  the  composite  produced  by  direct 
optical  superposition.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  two  processes 
lead  to  almost  exactly  the  same  result,  and  therefore  the  fairness 
of  the  photographic  process  may  be  taken  for  granted.  However, 
two  other  comparisons  will  be  made  for  the  sake  of  verification, 
namely,  between  the  optical  and  photographic  composites  of  two 
children,  and  again  between  those  of  two  Roman  contadini. 

The  composite  portraits  that  will  next  be  exhibited  are  made 
by  the  photographic  process,  and  it  will  now  be  understood  that 
they  are  truly  composite,  notwithstanding  their  definition  and 
apparent  individuality.  Attention  is,  however,  first  directed  to 
a  convenient  instrument  not  more  than  18  inches  in  length, 
which  is,  in  fact,  a  photographic  camera  with  six  converging- 
lenses  and  an  attached  screen,  on  which  six  pictures  can  be 
adjusted  and  brilliantly  illuminated  by  artificial  light.  The 
effect  of  their  optical  combination  can  thus  be  easily  studied ; 
any  errors  of  adjustment  can  be  rectified,  and  the  composite  may 
be  photographed  at  once. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  any  one  of  the  components  fails 
to  leave  its  due  trace  in  the  photographic  composite,  much  less 
in  the  optical  one.  In  order  to  allay  misgivings  on  the  subject, 
a  small  apparatus  is  laid  on  the  table  together  with  some  of  the 
results  obtained  by  it.  It  is  a  cardboard  frame,  with  a  spring 
shutter  closing  an  aperture  of.  the  size  of  a  wafer,  that  springs 
open  on  the  pressure  of  a  finger,  and  shuts  again  as  suddenly 
when  the  pressure  is  withdrawn.  A  chronograph  is  held  in  the 
other  hand,  whose  index  begins  to  travel  the  moment  the  finger 
presses  a  spring,  and  stops  instantly  on  lifting  the  finger.  The 
two  instruments  are  worked  simultaneously;  the  chronogTaph 
checking  the  time  allowed  for  each  exposure  and  summing  all 
the  times.     It  appears  from  several  trials  that  the  effect  of  1000 


352  APPENDIX. 

brief  exposures  is  practically  identical  with  that  of  a  single  ex- 
posure of  1000  times  the  duration  of  any  one  of  them.  There- 
fore each  of  a  thousand  components  leaves  its  due  photographic 
trace  on  the  composite,  though  it  is  far  too  faint  to  be  visible 
unless  reinforced  by  many  similar  traces. 

The  composites  now  to  be  exhibited  are  made  from  coins  or 
medals,  and  in  most  instances  the  aim  has  been  to  obtain  the 
best  likeness  attainable  of  historical  personages,  by  combining 
various  portraits  of  them  taken  at  different  periods  of  their  lives, 
and  so  to  elicit  the  traits  that  are  common  to  each  series.  A 
few  of  the  individual  portraits  are  placed  in  the  same  slide  with 
each  composite  to  give  a  better  idea  of  the  character  of  these 
blended  representatives.  Those  that  are  shown  are  (1)  Alexander 
the  Great,  from  six  components ;  (2)  Antiochus,  King  of  Syria, 
from  six ;  (3)  Demetrius  Poliorcetes,  from  six ;  (4)  Cleopatra, 
from  five.  Here  the  composite  is  as  usual  better  looking  than 
any  of  the  components,  none  of  which,  however,  give  any  indication 
of  her  reputed  beauty ;  in  fact,  her  features  are  not  only  plain, 
but  to  an  ordinary  English  taste  are  simply  hideous.  (5)  Nero, 
from  eleven ;  (6)  A  combination  of  five  different  Greek  female 
faces  ;  and  (7)  A  singularly  beautiful  combination  of  the  faces  of 
six  different  Roman  ladies,  forming  a  charming  ideal  profile. 

My  cordial  acknowledgment  is  due  to  Mr.  R  Stuart  Poole, 
the  learned  curator  of  the  coins  and  gems  in  the  British  Museum, 
for  his  kind  selection  of  the  most  suitable  medals,  and  for  pro- 
curing casts  of  them  for  me  for  the  present  purpose.  These 
casts  were,  with  one  exception,  all  photographed  to  a  uniform 
size  of  four-tenths  of  an  inch  between  the  pupils  of  the  eyes  and 
the  division  between  the  lips,  which  experience  shows  to  be  the 
most  convenient  size  on  the  whole  to  work  with,  regard  being 
paid  to  many  considerations  not  worth  while  to  specify  in  detail. 
When  it  was  necessary  the  photograph  was  reversed.  These 
photographs  were  made  by  Mr.  H.  Reynolds  ;  I  then  adjusted 
and  prepared  them  for  taking  the  photographic  composite. 

The  next  series  to  be  exhibited  consists  of  composites  taken 
from  the  portraits  of  criminals  convicted  of  murder,  manslaughter, 
or  crimes  accompanied  by  violence.  There  is  much  interest  in 
the  fact  that  two  types  of  features  are  found  much  more  frequently 
among  these  than  among  the  population  at  large.     In  one,  the 


COMPOSITE  PORTRAITURE.  353 

features  are  broad  and  massive,  like  those  of  Henry  VIII. ,  but 
with  a  much  smaller  brain.  The  other,  of  which  five  composites 
are  exhibited,  each  deduced  from  a  number  of  different  individuals, 
varying  four  to  nine,  is  a  face  that  is  weak  and  certainly  not  a 
common  English  face.  Three  of  these  composites,  though  taken 
from  entirely  different  sets  of  individuals,  are  as  alike  as  brothers, 
and  it  is  found  on  optically  combining  any  three  out  of  the  five 
composites,  that  is  on  combining  almost  any  considerable  number 
of  the  individuals,  the  result  is  closely  the  same.  The  combination 
of  the  three  composites  just  alluded  to  will  now  be  effected  by 
means  of  the  three  converging  magic -lanterns,  and  the  result 
may  be  accepted  as  generic  in  respect  of  this  particular  type  of 
criminals. 

The  process  of  composite  portraiture  is  one  of  pictorial  statis- 
tics. It  is  a  familiar  fact  that  the  average  height  of  even  a  dozen 
men  of  the  same  race,  taken  at  hazard,  varies  so  little,  that  for 
ordinary  statistical  purposes  it  may  be  considered  constant.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  the  measurement  of  every  separate  feature 
and  limb,  and  of  every  tint,  whether  of  skin,  hair,  or  eyes. 
Consequently  a  pictorial  combination  of  any  one  of  these  separate 
traits  would  lead  to  results  no  less  constant  than  the  statistical 
averages.  In  a  portrait,  there  is  another  factor  to  be  considered 
besides  the  measurement  of  the  separate  traits,  namely,  their 
relative  position ;  but  this,  too,  in  a  sufficiently  large  group, 
would  necessarily  have  a  statistical  constancy.  As  a  matter  of 
observation,  the  resemblance  between  persons  of  the  same  "genus" 
(in  the  sense  of  "generic,"  as  already  explained)  is  sufficiently 
great  to  admit  of  making  good  pictorial  composites  out  of  even 
small  groups,  as  has  been  abundantly  shown. 

Composite  pictures,  are,  however,  much  more  than  averages ; 
they  are  rather  the  equivalents  of  those  large  statistical  tables 
whose  totals,  divided  by  the  number  of  cases,  and  entered  in  the 
bottom  line,  are  the  averages.  They  are  real  generalisations, 
because  they  include  the  whole  of  the  material  under  considera- 
tion. The  blur  of  their  outlines,  which  is  never  great  in  truly 
generic  composites,  except  in  unimportant  details,  measures  the 
tendency  of  individuals  to  deviate  from  the  central  type.  My 
argument  is,  that  the  generic  images  that  arise  before  the  mind's 
eye,   and   the  general   impressions  which   are   faint  and   faulty 

2  A 


354  APPENDIX. 

editions  of  them,  are  the  analogues  of  these  composite  pictures 
which  we  have  the  advantage  of  examining  at  leisure,  and  whose 
peculiarities  and  character  we  can  investigate,  and  from  which 
we  may  draw  conclusions  that  shall  throw  much  light  on  the 
nature  of  certain  mental  processes  which  are  too  mobile  and 
evanescent  to  be  directly  dealt  with. 

III.   Composite  Portraiture. 
[Bead  before  the  Photographic  Society,  24th  June  1881.] 

I  propose  to  draw  attention  to-night  to  the  results  of  recent 
experiments  and  considerable  improvements  in  a  process  of  which 
I  published  the  principles  three  years  ago,  and  which  I  have  sub- 
sequently exhibited  more  than  once. 

I  have  shown  that,  if  we  have  the  portraits  of  two  or  more 
different  persons,  taken  in  the  same  aspect  and  under  the  same 
conditions  of  light  and  shade,  and  that  if  we  put  them  into 
different  optical  lanterns  converging  on  the  same  screen  and 
carefully  adjust  them — first,  so  as  to  bring  them  to  the  same 
scale,  and,  secondly,  so  as  to  superpose  them  as  accurately  as 
the  conditions  admit — then  the  different  faces  will  blend  sur- 
prisingly well  into  a  single  countenance.  If  they  are  not  very 
dissimilar,  the  blended  result  will  always  have  a  curious  air  of 
individuality,  and  will  be  unexpectedly  well  defined  ;  it  will 
exactly  resemble  none  of  its  components,  but  it  will  have  a  sort 
of  family  likeness  to  all  of  them,  and  it  will  be  an  ideal  and  an 
averaged  portrait.  I  have  also  shown  that  the  image  on  the 
screen  might  be  photographed  then  and  there,  or  that  the  same 
result  may  be  much  more  easily  obtained  by  a  method  of  suc- 
cessive photography,  and  I  have  exhibited  many  specimens  made 
on  this  principle.  Photo-lithographs  of  some  of  these  will  be 
found  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Pioyal  Institution,  as  illustrations 
of  a  lecture  I  gave  there  "On  Generic  Images"  in  1879. 

The  method  I  now  use  is  much  better  than  those  previously 
described  ;  it  leads  to  more  accurate  results,  and  is  easier  to 
manage.  I  will  exhibit  and  explain  the  apparatus  as  it  stands, 
and  will  indicate  some  improvements  as  I  go  on.  The  apparatus 
is  here.  I  use  it  by  gaslight,  and  employ  rapid  dry  plates,  which, 
however,  under  the  conditions  of  a  particularly  small  aperture 


COMPOSITE  PORTRAITURE.  355 

and  the  character  of  the  light,  require  60  seconds  of  total 
exposure.  The  apparatus  is  4  feet  long  and  6-^  inches  broad ; 
it  lies  with  its  side  along  the  edge  of  the  table  at  which  I  sit, 
and  it  is  sloped  towards  me,  so  that,  by  bending  my  neck  slightly, 
I  can  bring  my  eye  to  an  eye-hole,  where  I  watch  the  effect  of 
the  adjustments  which  my  hands  are  free  to  make.  The  entire 
management  of  the  whole  of  these  is  within  an  easy  arm's  length, 
and  I  complete  the  process  without  shifting  my  seat. 

The  apparatus  consists  of  three  parts,  A,  B,  and  C.  A  is 
rigidly  fixed ;  it  contains  the  dark  slide  and  the  contrivances  by 
which  the  position  of  the  image  can  be  viewed ;  the  eye-hole,  e, 
already  mentioned,  being  part  of  A.  B  is  a  travelling  carriage 
that  holds  the  lens,  and  is  connected  by  bellows-work  with  A. 
In  my  apparatus  it  is  pushed  out  and  in,  and  clamped  where 
desired,  but  it  ought  to  be  moved  altogether  by  pinion  and  rack- 
work.1  The  lens  I  use  is  a  I  B  Dallmeyer.  Its  focal  length  is 
appropriate  to  the  size  of  the  instrument,  and  I  find  great  con- 
venience in  a  lens  of  wide  aperture  when  making  the  adjustments, 
as  I  then  require  plenty  of  light ;  but,  as  to  the  photography, 
the  smaller  the  aperture  the  better.  The  hole  in  my  stop  is 
only  two-tenths  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  I  believe  one-tenth 
would  be  more  suitable. 

C  is  a  travelling  carriage  that  supports  the  portraits  in  turn, 
from  which  the  composite  has  to  be  made.  I  work  directly 
from  the  original  negatives  with  transmitted  light ;  but  prints 
can  be  used  with  light  falling  on  their  face.  For  convenience  of 
description  I  will  confine  myself  to  the  first  instance  only,  and 
will  therefore  speak  of  C  as  the  carriage  that  supports  the  frame 
that  holds  the  negative  transparencies.  C  can  be  pushed  along 
the  board  and  be  clamped  anywhere,  and  it  has  a  rack  and 
pinion  adjustment ;  but  it  should  have  been  made  movable  by 
rack  and  pinion  along  the  whole  length  of  the  board.  The 
frame  for  the  transparencies  has  the  same  movements  of  adjust- 
ment as  those  in  the  stage  of  a  microscope.  It  rotates  round  a 
hollow  axis,  through  which  a  beam  of  light  is  thrown,  and  inde- 
pendent movements  in  the  plane,  at  right  angles  to  the  axis,  can 
be' given  to  it  in  two  directions,  at  right  angles  to  one  another, 

1  I  have  since  had  a  more  substantial  instrument  made  with  these  and 
similar  improvements. 


356 


APPENDIX. 


by  turning  two  separate  screws.  The  beam  of  light  is  furnished 
by  three  gas-burners,  and  it  passes  through  a  condenser.  The 
gas  is  supplied  through  a  flexible  tube  that  does  not  interfere 


DIAGRAM   SHOWING   THE    ESSENTIAL   PARTS. 


Sijli:  View. 


A  The  body  of  the  camera,  which  is  fixed. 
B  Lens  on  a  carriage,  which  can  be  moved 

to  and  fro. 
C  Frame  for  the  transparency,  on  a   rar- 

riage  that  also  supports  the  lantern  ; 

the  whole  can  be  moved  to  and  fro. 
r  The  reflector  inside  the  camera. 
to  The  arm  outside  the  camera  attached  to 

the  axis  of  the  reflector;  by  moving 

it,  the  reflector  can  be  moved  up  or 

down. 
<7  A  ground-glass  screen  on  the  roof,  which 

receives  the  image  when  the  reflector 

is  turned  down,  as  in  the  diagram. 


e  The  eye-hole  through  which  the  image  is 
viewed  on  g  ;  a  thin  piece  of  glass  im- 
mediately below  e,  reflects  the  illumin- 
ated fiducial  lines  in  the  transparency 
at/,  and  gives  them  the  appearance  of 
lying  upon  g, — the  distances  ft  and 
g  c  being  made  equal,  the  angle  f  e  g 
being  made  a  right  angle,  and  the  plane 
of  the  thin  piece  of  glass  being  made 
to  bisect  fe  g. 

/  Framework,  adjustable,  holding  the  trans- 
parency with  the  fiducial  lines  on  it. 

t  Framework,  adjustable,  holding  the  trans- 
parency of  the  portrait. 


with  the  movements  of  C,  and  it  is  governed  by  a  stop-cock  in 
front  of  the  operator. 

The  apparatus,  so  far  as  it  has  been  described  with  any 


COMPOSITE  PORTRAITURE.  357 

detail,  and,  ignoring  what  was  said  about  an  eye-hole,  is  little 
else  than  a  modified  copying-camera,  by  which  an  image  of  the 
transparency  could  be  thrown  on  the  ordinary  focusing-screen, 
and  be  altered  in  scale  and  position  until  it  was  adjusted  to 
fiducial  lines  drawn  on  the  screen.  It  is  conceivable  that  this 
should  be  done,  and  that  the  screen  should  be  replaced  by  the 
dark  slide,  and  a  brief  exposure  given  to  the  plate ;  then,  that 
a  fresh  transparency  should  be  inserted,  a  fresh  focusing  adjust- 
ment made,  and  a  second  exposure  given,  and  so  on.  This,  I 
say,  is  conceivable,  but  it  would  be  very  inconvenient.  The 
adjusting  screws  would  be  out  of  reach  ;  the  head  of  the  operator 
would  be  in  an  awkward  position ;  and  though  these  two  diffi- 
culties might  be  overcome  in  some  degree,  a  serious  risk  of  an 
occasional  shift  of  the  plate  during  the  frequent  replacement  of 
the  dark  slide  would  remain.  I  avoid  all  this  by  making  my 
adjustments  while  the  plate  continues  in  position  with  its  front 
open.  I  do  so  through  the  help  of  a  reflector  temporarily  inter- 
posed between  it  and  the  lens.  I  do  not  use  the  ordinary 
focusing-screen  at  all  in  making  my  adjustments,  but  one  that 
is  flush,  or  nearly  so,  with  the  roof  of  the  camera.  When  the 
reflector  is  interposed,  the  image  is  wholly  cut  off  from  the 
sensitised  plate,  and  is  thrown  upwards  against  this  focusing- 
screen,  g,  "When  the  reflector  is  withdrawn,  the  image  falls  on 
the  plate.  It  is  upon  this  focusing-screen  in  the  roof  that  I  see 
the  fiducial  lines  by  which  I  make  all  the  adjustments.  Nothing 
can  be  more  convenient  than  the  position  of  this  focusing-screen 
for  working  purposes.  I  look  down  on  the  image  as  I  do  upon 
a  book  resting  on  a  sloping  desk,  and  all  the  parts  of  the 
apparatus  are  within  an  easy  arm's  length. 

My  reflector  in  my  present  instrument  is,  I  am  a  little 
ashamed  to  confess,  nothing  better  than  a  piece  of  looking-glass 
fixed  to  an  axle  within  the  camera,  near  its  top  left-hand  edge. 
One  end  of  the  axle  protrudes,  and  has  a  short  arm ;  when  I 
push  the  arm  back,  the  mirror  is  raised ;  when  I  push  it 
forward,  it  drops  down.  I  used  a  swing-glass  because  the  swing 
action  is  very  true,  and  as  my  apparatus  was  merely  a  pro- 
visional working  model  made  of  soft  wood,  I  did  not  like  to  use 
sliding  arrangements  which  might  not  have  acted  truly,  or  I 
should  certainly  have  employed  a  slide  with  a  rectangular  glass 


358  APPENDIX. 

prism,  on  account  of  the  perfect  reflection  it  affords.  And  let 
me  say,  that  a  prism  of  2  inches  square  in  the  side  is  quite  large 
enough  for  adjustment  purposes,  for  it  is  only  the  face  of  the 
portrait  that  is  Avanted  to  be  seen.  I  chose  my  looking-glass 
carefully,  and  selected  a  piece  that  was  plane  and  parallel.  It 
has  not  too  high  a  polish,  and  therefore  does  not  give  trouble- 
some double  reflections.  In  fact,  it  answers  very  respectably, 
especially  when  we  consider  that  perfection  of  definition  is 
thrown  away  on  composites.  I  thought  of  a  mirror  silvered  on 
the  front  of  the  glass,  but  this  would  soon  tarnish  in  the  gas- 
light, so  I  did  not  try  it.  For  safety  against  the  admission  of 
light  unintentionally,  I  have  a  cap  to  the  focusing-screen  in  the 
roof,  and  a  slide  in  the  fixed  body  of  the  instrument  immediately 
behind  the  reflector  and  before  the  dark  slide.  Neither  of  these 
would  be  wanted  if  the  reflector  was  replaced  by  a  prism,  set 
into  one  end  of  a  sliding  block  that  had  a  large  horizontal  hole 
at  the  other  end,  and  a  sufficient  length  of  solid  wood  between 
the  two  to  block  out  the  passage  of  light  both  upwards  and 
downwards,  whenever  the  block  is  passing  through  the  half-way 
position. 

As  regards  the  fiducial  lines,  they  might  be  drawn  on  the 
glass  screen ;  but  black  lines  are  not,  I  find,  the  best.  It  is  far 
easier  to  work  with  illuminated  lines ;  and  it  is  important  to  be 
able  to  control  their  brightness.  I  produce  these  lines  by  means 
of  a  vertical  transparency,  set  in  an  adjustable  frame,  connected 
with  A,  and  having  a  gas-light  behind  it.  Below  the  eye-hole  e, 
through  which  I  view  the  glass-screen  g,  is  a  thin  piece  of  glass 
set  at  an  angle  of  45°,  which  reflects  the  fiducial  lines  and  gives 
them  the  appearance  of  lying  on  the  screen,  the  frame  being  so 
adjusted  that  the  distance  from  the  thin  piece  of  glass  to  the 
transparency  and  to  the  glass-screen  g  is  the  same.  I  thus  obtain 
beautiful  fiducial  lines,  which  I  can  vary  from  extreme  faintness 
to  extreme  brilliancy,  by  turning  the  gas  lower  or  higher,  accord- 
ing to  the  brightness  of  the  image  of  the  portrait,  which  itself 
depends  on  the  density  of  the  transparency  that  I  am  engaged 
upon.  .This  arrangement  seems  as  good  as  can  be.  It  affords  a 
gauge  of  the  density  of  the  negative,  and  enables  me  to  regulate 
the  burners  behind  it,  until  the  image  of  the  portrait  on  g  is 
adjusted  to  a  standard  degree  of  brightness. 


COMPOSITE  PORTRAITURE.  359 

For  convenience  in  enlarging  or  reducing,  I  take  care  that 
the  intersection  of  the  vertical  fiducial  line  with  that  which 
passes  through  the  pupils  of  the  eyes  shall  correspond  to  the 
optical  axis  of  the  camera.  Then,  as  I  enlarge  or  reduce,  that 
point  in  the  image  remains  fixed.  The  uppermost  horizontal 
fiducial  line  continues  to  intersect  the  pupils,  and  the  vertical 
one  continues  to  divide  the  face  symmetrically.  The  mouth  has 
alone  to  be  watched.  When  the  mouth  is  adjusted  to  the  lower 
fiducial  line,  the  scale  is  exact.  It  is  a  great  help  having  to 
attend  to  no  more  than  one  varying  element.  The  only  incon- 
venience is  that  the  image  does  not  lie  in  the  best  position  on 
the  plate  when  the  point  between  the  eyes  occupies  its  centre. 
This  is  easily  remedied  by  using  a  larger  back  with  a  suitable 
inner  frame.  I  have  a  more  elaborate  contrivance  in  my 
apparatus  to  produce  the  same  result,  which  I  need  not  stop  to 
explain. 

For  success  and  speed  in  making  composites,  the  apparatus 
should  be  solidly  made,  chiefly  of  metal,  and  all  the  adjustments 
ought  to  work  smoothly  and  accurately.  Good  composites  can- 
not be  made  without  very  careful  adjustment  in  scale  and 
position.  An  off-hand  way  of  working  produces  nothing  but 
failures. 

I  will  first  exhibit  a  very  simple  but  instructive  composite 
effect.  I  drew  on  a  square  card  a  circle  of  about  2|  inches  in 
diameter,  and  two  cross  lines  through  its  centre,  cutting  one 
another  at  right  angles.  Round  each  of  the  four  points,  90° 
apart,  where  the  cross  cuts  the  circle,  I  drew  small  circles  of  the 
size  of  wafers  and  gummed  upon  each  a  disc  of  different  tint. 
Finally  I  made  a  single  black  dot  half-way  between  two  of  the 
arms  of  the  cross.  I  then  made  a  composite  of  the  four  positions 
of  the  card,  as  it  was  placed  successively  with  each  of  its  sides 
downwards.  The  result  is  a  photograph  having  a  sharply-defined 
cross  surrounded  by  four  discs  of  precisely  uniform  tint,  and 
between  each  pair  of  arms  of  the  cross  there  is  a  very  faint  dot. 
This  photograph  shows  many  things.  The  fact  of  its  being  a 
composite  is  shown  by  the  four  faint  dots.  The  equality  of  the 
successive  periods  of  exposure  is  shown  by  the  equal  tint  of  the 
four  dots.  The  accuracy  of  adjustment  is  shown  by  the  sharp- 
ness of  the   cross  being  as    great  in  the  composite  as  in  the 


360 


APPENDIX. 


original  card.  We  see  the  smallness  of  the  effect  produced  by 
any  trait,  such  as  the  dot,  when  it  appears  in  the  same  place 
in  only  one  of  the  components :  if  this  effect  be  so  small  in 
a  series  of  only  four  components,  it  would  certainly  be  imper- 
ceptible in  a  much  larger  series.  Thirdly,  the  uniformity  of 
resulting  tint  in  the  composite  wafer  is  quite  irrespective  of 
the  order  of  exposure.  Let  us  call  the  four  component  wafers 
A,  B,  C,  D,  respectively,  and  the  four  composite  wafers  1,  2,  3,  4  ; 
then  we  see,  by  the  diagram,  that  the  order  of  exposure  has 
differed  in  each  case. 


Composite. 

Successive  places  of  the  Components. 

1         2 
4         3 

A 
D 

B 
C 

D         A 
C          B 

C        D 
B        A 

B 
A 

C 
D 

In  1  it  has  been  A,  D,  C,  B, 


2 

55 

B,  A,  D,  C, 

3 

C,  B,  A,  D, 

4 

It 

D,  C,  B,  A, 

yet  the  result  is  identical.  Therefore  the  order  of  exposure  has 
no  effect  on  the  result. 

I  will  next  show  a  series  consisting  of  two  portraits  con- 
siderably unlike  to  one  another,  and  yet  not  so  very  discordant 
as  to  refuse  to  conform,  and  of  two  intermediate  composites. 
In  making  one  of  the  composites  I  gave  two-thirds  of  the  total  time 
of  exposure  to  the  first  portrait,  and  one -third  to  the  second 
portrait.  In  making  the  other  composite,  I  did  the  converse. 
It  will  be  seen  how  good  is  the  result  in  both  cases,  and  how  the 
likeness  of  the  longest  exposed  portrait  always  predominates. 

The  next  is  a  series  of  four  composites.  The  first  consists  of 
57  hospital  patients  suffering  under  one  or  other  of  the  many 
forms  of  consumption.  I  may  say  that,  with  the  aid  of  Dr. 
Mahomed,  I  am  endeavouring  to  utilise  this  process  to  elicit  the 
physiognomy  of  disease.  The  composite  I  now  show  is  what  1 
call  a  hotch-potch  composite;  its  use  is  to  form  a  standard 
whence  deviations  towards  any  particular  sub-type  may  be  con- 
veniently gauged.     It  will  be  observed  that  the  face  is  strongly 


COMPOSITE  PORTRAITURE.  361 

marked,  and  that  it  is  quite  idealised.  I  claim  for  composite 
portraiture,  that  it  affords  a  method  of  obtaining  pictorial  averages, 
which  effects  simultaneously  for  every  point  in  a  picture  what  a 
method  of  numerical  averages  would  do  for  each  point  in  the 
picture  separately.  It  gives,  in  short,  the  average  tint  of  every 
unit  of  area  in  the  picture,  measured  from  the  fiducial  lines  as 
co-ordinates.  Xow  every  statistician  knows,  by  experience,  that 
numerical  averages  usually  begin  to  agree  pretty  fairly  when  we 
deal  with  even  twenty  or  thirty  cases.  Therefore  we  should 
expect  to  find  that  any  groups  of  twenty  or  thirty  men  of  the 
same  class  would  yield  composites  bearing  a  considerable  likeness 
to  one  another.  In  proof  that  this  is  the  case,  I  exhibit  three 
other  composites :  the  one  is  made  from  the  first  28  portraits  of 
the  57,  the  second  from  the  last  27,  and  the  third  is  made  from 
36  portraits  taken  indiscriminately  out  of  the  57.  It  will  be 
observed  that  all  the  four  composites  are  closely  alike. 

I  will  now  show  a  few  typical  portraits  I  selected  out  of  82 
male  portraits  of  a  different  series  of  consumptive  male  patients ; 
they  were  those  that  had  more  or  less  of  a  particular  wan  look, 
that  I  wished  to  elicit.  The  selected  cases  were  about  18  in 
number,  and  from  these  I  took  12,  rejecting  about  6  as  having 
some  marked  peculiarity  that  did  not  conform  well  with  the 
remaining  12.  The  result  is  a  very  striking  face,  thoroughly 
ideal  and  artistic,  and  singularly  beautiful.  It  is,  indeed,  most 
notable  how  beautiful  all  composites  are.  Individual  peculiarities 
are  all  irregularities,  and  the  composite  is  always  regular. 

I  show  a  composite  of  15  female  faces,  also  of  consumptive 
patients,  that  gives  somewhat  the  same  aspect  of  the  disease ; 
also  two  others  of  only  6  in  each,  that  have  in  consequence  less 
of  an  ideal  look,  but  which  are  still  typical.  I  have  here  several 
other  typical  faces  in  my  collection  of  composites ;  they  are  all 
serviceable  as  illustrations  of  this  memoir,  but,  medically  speak- 
ing, they  are  only  provisional  results. 

I  am  indebted  to  Lieutenant  Leonard  Darwin,  RE,  for  an 
interesting  series  of  negatives  of  officers  and  privates  of  the 
Royal  Engineers.  Here  is  a  composite  of  1 2  officers ;  here  is 
one  of  30  privates.  I  then  thought  it  better  to  select  from  the 
latter  the  men  that  came  from  the  southern  counties,  and  to 
again  make  a  further  selection  of  1 1  from  these,  on  the  principle 


362  APPENDIX. 

already  explained.  Here  is  the  result.  It  is  very  interesting  to 
note  the  stamp  of  culture  and  refinement  on  the  composite 
officer,  and  the  honest  and  vigorous  but  more  homely  features 
of  the  privates.  The  combination  of  these  two,  officers  and 
privates  together,  gives  a  very  effective  physiognomy. 

Let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  existing  cartes-de-visite  are 
almost  certain  to  be  useless.  Among  dozens  of  them  it  is  hard 
to  find  three  that  fulfil  the  conditions  of  similarity  of  aspect  and 
of  shade.  The  negatives  have  to  be  made  on  purpose.  I  use 
a  repeating  back  and  a  quarter  plate,  and  get  two  good-sized 
heads  on  each  plate,  and  of  a  scale  that  never  gives  less  than 
four-tenths  of  an  inch  between  the  pupils  of  the  eyes  and  the 
mouth.  It  is  only  the  head  that  can  be  used,  as  more  distant 
parts,  even  the  ears,  become  blurred  hopelessly. 

It  will  be  asked,  of  what  use  can  all  this  be  to  ordinary 
photographers,  even  granting  that  it  may  be  of  scientific  value 
in  ethnological  research,  in  inquiries  into  the  physiognomy  of 
disease,  and  for  other  special  purposes  !  I  think  it  can  be  turned 
to  most  interesting  account  in  the  production  of  family  likenesses. 
The  most  unartistic  productions  of  amateur  photography  do  quite 
as  well  for  making  composites  as  those  of  the  best  professional 
workers,  because  their  blemishes  vanish  in  the  blended  result. 
All  that  amateurs  have  to  do  is  to  take  negatives  of  the  various 
members  of  their  families  in  precisely  the  same  aspect  (I  recom- 
mend either  perfect  full -face  or  perfect  profile),  and  under  pre- 
cisely the  same  conditions  of  light  and  shade,  and  to  send  them 
to  a  firm  provided  with  proper  instrumental  appliances  to  make 
composites  from  them.  The  result  is  sure  to  be  artistic  in  ex- 
pression and  flatteringly  handsome,  and  would  be  very  interesting 
to  the  members  of  the  family.  Young  and  old,  and  persons  of 
both  sexes  can  be  combined  into  one  ideal  face.  I  can  well 
imagine  a  fashion  setting  in  to  have  these  pictures. 

Professional  skill  might  be  exercised  very  effectively  in  re- 
touching composites.  It  would  be  easy  to  obliterate  the  ghosts 
of  stray  features  that  are  always  present  when  the  composite  is 
made  from  only  a  few  portraits,  and  it  would  not  be  difficult  to 
tone  down  any  irregularity  in  the  features  themselves,  due  to 
some  obtrusive  peculiarity  in  one  of  the  components.  A  higher 
order  of  artistic  skill  might  be  well  bestowed  upon  the  composites 


TOWN  AND  COUNTRY  POPULATION.      363 

that  have  been  made  out  of  a  large  number  of  components. 
Here  the  irregularities  disappear,  the  features  are  perfectly 
regular  and  idealised,  but  the  result  is  dim.  It  is  like  a  pencil 
drawing,  where  many  attempts  have  been  made  to  obtain  the 
desired  effect :  such  a  drawing  is  smudged  and  ineffective ;  but 
the  artist,  under  its  guidance,  draws  his  final  work  with  clear 
bold  touches,  and  then  he  rubs  out  the  smudge.  On  precisely 
the  same  principle  the  faint  but  beautifully  idealised  features  of 
these  composites  are,  I  believe,  capable  of  forming  the  basis  of  a 
very  high  order  of  artistic  work. 


C— THE  EELATIVE  SUPPLIES  FROM  TOWN  AND 
COUNTRY  FAMILIES  TO  THE  POPULATION  OF 
FUTURE  GENERATIONS. 

[Bead  before  the  Statistical  Society  in  1873.] 

It  is  well  known  that  the  population  of  towns  decays,  and  has 
to  be  recruited  by  immigrants  from  the  country,  but  I  am  not 
aware  that  any  statistical  investigation  has  yet  been  attempted  of 
the  rate  of  its  decay.  The  more  energetic  members  of  our  race, 
whose  breed  is  the  most  valuable  to  our  nation,  are  attracted  from 
the  country  to  our  towns.  If  residence  in  towns  seriously  inter- 
feres with  the  maintenance  of  their  stock,  we  should  expect  the 
breed  of  Englishmen  to  steadily  deteriorate,  so  far  as  that  partic- 
ular influence  is  concerned. 

I  am  well  aware  that  the  only  perfectly  trustworthy  way  of 
conducting  the  inquiry  is  by  statistics  derived  from  numerous 
life-histories,  but  I  find  it  very  difficult  to  procure  these  data.  I 
therefore  have  had  recourse  to  an  indirect  method,  based  on  a 
selection  from  the  returns  made  at  the  census  of  1871,  which 
appears  calculated  to  give  a  fair  approximation  to  the  truth.  My 
object  is  to  find  the  number  of  adult  male  representatives  in  this 
generation,  of  1000  adult  males  in  the  previous  one,  of  rural  and 
urban  populations  respectively.  The  principle  on  which  I  have 
proceeded  is  this  : — 

I  find  (A)  the  number  of  children  of  equal  numbers  of  urban 
and  of  rural  mothers.     The  census  schedules  contain  returns  of 


364  APPENDIX. 

the  names  and  ages  of  the  members  of  each  "  family,"  by  which 
word  we  are  to  understand  those  members  who  are  alive  and 
resident  in  the  same  house  with  their  parents.  When  the  mothers 
are  young,  the  children  are  necessarily  very  young,  and  nearly 
always  (in  at  least  those  classes  who  are  unable  to  send  their 
children  to  boarding  schools)  live  at  home.  If,  therefore,  we 
limit  our  inquiries  to  the  census  "  families  "  of  young  mothers,  the 
results  may  be  accepted  as  practically  identical  with  those  we 
should  have  obtained  if  we  had  direct  means  of  ascertaining  the 
number  of  their  living  children.  The  limits  of  age  of  the  mothers 
which  I  adopted  in  my  selection  were,  24  and  40  years.  Had  I 
to  begin  the  work  afresh,  I  should  prefer  the  period  from  20  to 
35,  but  I  have  reason  to  feel  pretty  well  contented  with  my  pre- 
sent data.  I  correct  the  results  thus  far  obtained  on  the  follow- 
ing grounds : — (B)  the  relative  mortality  of  the  two  classes 
between  childhood  and  maturity ;  (C)  the  relative  mortality  of 
the  rural  and  urban  mothers  during  childbearing  ages  ;  (D)  their 
relative  celibacy ;  and  (E)  the  span  of  a  rural  and  urban  genera- 
tion. It  will  be  shown  that  B  is  important,  and  C  noteworthy, 
but  that  D  and  E  may  be  disregarded. 

In  deciding  on  the  districts  to  be  investigated,  it  was  important 
to  chose  Avell-marked  specimens  of  urban  and  rural  populations. 
In  the  former,  a  town  was  wanted  where  there  were  various 
industries,  and  where  the  population  was  not  increasing.  A  town 
where  only  one  industry  was  pursued  would  not  be  a  fair  sample, 
because  the  particular  industry  might  be  suspected  of  having  a 
special  influence,  and  a  town  that  was  increasing  would  have 
attracted  numerous  immigrants  from  the  country,  who  are  undis- 
tinguishable  as  such  in  the  census  returns.  Guided  by  these 
considerations,  I  selected  Coventry,  where  silk  weaving,  watch- 
making, and  other  industries  are  carried  on,  and  whose  population 
had  scarcely  varied  during  the  decade  preceding  the  census  of 
1871.1  It  is  an  open  town,  in  which  the  crowded  alleys  of  larger 
places  are  not  frequent.  Its  urban  peculiarities  are  therefore 
minimised,  and  its  statistical  returns  would  give  a  picture  some- 
what too  favourable  of  the  average  condition  of  life  in  towns.  For 
specimens  of  rural  districts,  I  chose  small  agricultural  parishes  in 
Warwickshire. 

1  It  has  greatly  changed  since  this  was  written. 


TOWN  AND  COUNTRY  POPULATION.      365 

By  the  courteous  permission  of  Dr.  Farr,  I  was  enabled  to 
procure  extracts  from  the  census  returns  concerning  iooo  "fami- 
lies "  of  factory  hands  at  Coventry,  in  which  the  age  of  the  mother 
was  neither  less  than  24  nor  more  than  40  years,  and  concerning 
another  1000  families  of  agricultural  labourers  in  rural  parishes 
of  "Warwickshire,  under  the  same  limitations  as  to  the  age  of  the  ^ 
mother.  When  these  returns  were  classified  (see  Table  I.,  p.  24), 
I  found  the  figures  to  run  in  such  regular  sequence  as  to  make  it 
certain  that  the  cases  were  sufficiently  numerous  to  give  trust- 
worthy results.     It  appeared  that : — 

(A)  The  iooo  families  of  factory  hands  comprised  2681 
children,  and  the  iooo  of  agricultural  labourers  comprised  291 1  ; 
hence,  the  children  in  the  urban  "  families,"  the  mothers  being 
between  the  ages  of  24  and  40,  are  on  the  whole  about  8  per 
cent  less  numerous  than  the  rural.  I  see  no  reason  why  these 
numbers  should  not  be  accepted  as  relatively  correct  for  families, 
in  the  ordinary  sense  of  that  word,  and  for  mothers  of  all  ages. 
An  inspection  of  the  table  does  indeed  show  that  if  the  selection 
had  begun  at  an  earlier  age  than  24,  there  would  have  been  an 
increased  proportion  of  sterile  and  of  small  families  among  the 
factory  hands,  but  not  sufficient  to  introduce  any  substantial 
modification  of  the  above  results.  It  is,  however,  important  to 
recollect  that  the  small  error,  whatever  its  amount  may  be,  is  a 
concession  in  favour  of  the  towns. 

(B)  I  next  make  an  allowance  for  the  mortality  between 
childhood  and  maturity,  which  will  diminish  the  above  figures 
in  different  proportions,  because  the  conditions  of  town  life  are 
more  fatal  to  children  than  those  of  the  country.  No  life  tables 
exist  for  Coventry  and  Warwickshire ;  I  am  therefore  obliged  to 
use  statistics  for  similarly  conditioned  localities,  to  determine  the 
amount  of  the  allowance  that  should  be  made.  The  life  tables 
of  Manchester1  will  afford  the  data  for  towns,  and  those 
of  the  "Healthy  districts"2  will  suffice  for  the  country.  By 
applying  these,  we  could  calculate  the  number  of  the  children 
of  ages  specified  in  the  census  returns  who  would  attain  maturity. 
I  regret  extremely  that  Avhen  I  had  the  copies  taken,  I  did  not 

1  "  Seventh  Annual  Report  of  Registrar-General. " 

2  Healthy  Districts  Life  Table,  by  Dr.  Farr.     Phil.  Tram.  Rcnjal  Society, 
1859. 


366  APPENDIX. 

give  instructions  to  have  the  ages  of  all  the  children  inserted ; 
but  I  did  not,  and  it  is  too  late  now  to  remedy  the  omission.  I 
am  therefore  obliged  to  make  a  very  rough,  but  not  unfair,  esti- 
mate. The  average  age  of  the  children  was  about  3  years,  and 
25  years  may  be  taken  as  representing  the  age  of  maturity. 
Now  it  will  be  found  that  74  per  cent  of  children  in  Manchester, 
of  the  age  of  3,  reach  the  age  of  25,  while  86  per  cent  of  children 
do  so  in  the  "Healthy  Districts."  Therefore,  if  my  rough 
method  be  accepted  as  approximately  fair,  the  number  of  adults 
who  will   be   derived  from  the   children   of  the    iooo   factory 

families  should  be  reckoned  at  (2681  x )  =  1086,  and  those 

\  IO°/ 

from  the  1000  agricultural  at  (  2911  x  j  =  25°3- 

(C)  The  comparison  we  seek  is  between  the  total  families 
produced  by  an  equal  number  of  urban  and  rural  women  who 
had  survived  the  age  of  24.  Many  of  these  women  will  not 
marry  at  all ;  I  postpone  that  consideration  to  the  next  para- 
graph. Many  of  the  rest  will  die  before  they  reach  the  age  of 
40,  and  more  of  them  will  die  in  the  town  than  in  the  country. 
It  appears  from  data  furnished  by  the  above-mentioned  tables, 
that  if  100  women  of  the  age  of  24  had  annually  been  added 
to  a  population,  the  number  of  those  so  added,  living  between 
the  ages  of  24  and  40  (an  interval  of  seventeen  years)  would 
be  1539  under  the  conditions  of  life  in  Manchester,  and  1585 
under  those  of  the  healthy  districts.  Therefore  the  small  factors 
to  be  applied  respectively  to  the  two  cases,  on  account  of  this 

correction,  are  - — ^-^ — and 


17x100  17x100 

(D)  I  have  no  trustworty  data  for  the  relative  prevalence  of 
celibacy  in  town  and  country.  All  that  I  have  learned  from  the 
census  returns  is,  that  when  searching  them  for  the  1000  families, 
131  bachelors  were  noted  between  the  ages  of  24  and  40,  among 
the  factory  hands,  and  144  among  the  agricultural  labourers.  If 
these  figures  be  accepted  as  correct  guides  to  the  amount  of  celi- 
bacy among  the  women,  it  would  follow  that  I  must  be  considered 
to  have  discussed  the  cases  of  1131  factory,  and  11 44  agricul- 
tural women,  when  dealing  with  those  of  1000  mothers  in  either 


TOWN  AND  COUNTRY  POPULATION.       367 

class.     Consequently  that  the  respective  corrections  to  be  applied, 

iooo  iooo  88-4  8y6 

are  given  by  the  factors  and >  or  — >   and . 

1131  1141  iooo  iooo 

This  difference  of  less  than  1  per  cent  is  hardly  worth  applying, 
moreover  I  do  not  like  to  apply  it,  because  it  seems  to  me  errone- 
ous and  to  act  in  the  wrong  direction,  inasmuch  as  unmarried 
women  can  obtain  employment  more  readily  in  the  town  than  in 
the  country,  and  celibacy  is  therefore  more  likely  to  be  common 
in  the  former  than  in  the  latter. 

(E)  The  possible  difference  in  the  length  of  an  urban  and 
rural  generation  must  not  be  forgotten.  We,  however,  have 
reason  to  believe  that  the  correction  on  this  ground  will  be  in- 
significant, because  the  length  of  a  generation  is  found  to  be 
constant  under  very  different  circumstances  of  race,  and  therefore 
we  should  expect  it  to  be  equally  constant  in  the  same  race 
under  different  conditions ;  such  as  it  is,  it  would  probably  tell 
against  the  towns. 

Let  us  now  sum  up  the  results.     The  corrections  are  not  to 
be  applied  for  (D)  and  (E),  so  we  have  only  to  regard  (A)  x  (B) 
x  (C),  that  is — 


2681  x  74  x  1539 
100   1700 

_i796_ 

2334 

77 

86   158c 
2911  x x   J 

100 

1700 


In  other  words,  the  rate  of  supply  in  towns  to  the  next  adult 
generation  is  only  7  7  per  cent,  or,  say,  three-quarters  of  that  in 
the  country.  This  decay,  if  it  continued  constant,  would  lead  to 
the  result  that  the  representatives  of  the  townsmen  would  be  less 
than  half  as  numerous  as  those  of  the  country  folk  after  one 
century,  and  only  about  one  fifth  as  numerous  after  two  centuries, 

the  proportions  being and respectively. 


368 


APPENDIX. 


Table  I. — Census  Returns  of  iooo  Families  of  Factory  Hands  in  Coventry,  and  iooo 

the  Mother  and  the  Number 


Age  of  Mother. 

Number  of  Children  in  Family. 

0.          1          1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

>> 

u 
o 
o 

"3 

1 

0 

a! 

I 

u 
0 

c; 

"3 
0 

i 

< 

>> 

u 
0 

a 

c3 

"3 

a 
< 

>> 

u 

c 

0 

C3 

6h 

3 

% 

< 

24  to  25       . 
26  „  27       . 
28  „  29       . 
30  „  31       . 
32  ,,  33       . 
34  ,,  35       . 
36  ,,  37       . 
38  ,,  39       . 
40       ...         . 

2S 

18 

13 

iS 

17 

18 

17 

4 

11 

40 
36 
32 
23 
16 
II 

31 
24 
16 
18 
14 
6 

24 

32 

12 

10 

2 
8 

14 
18 

23 

8 
23 
22 
26 

36 

201 
24 
19 
17 

28 
33 
21 
13 
16 

23 
36 
281 
221 
28 
22 

26 
23 
31 

27 
18 
14 

14 

12 

8 
8 

15 

17 

6 

7 

31        34 

4 

9 

3 

11 
15 
10 

IO 

8 

13 

17 

9 

16 

22 

8 

20 
23 
10 

16 
13 

21 
14 

Total  within  outline    . 
Total  between  outlines 
Total  beyond  outline 

96 
42 

67 
45 

158 
16 

109 
36 

116 

56 

111 
71 

171 
29 

149 
35 

142 

166 

Total  . 

138 

112      174 

145 

172 

182 

200 

184 

142      166 

1  These  three  cases  are  anomalous,  the  Factory  being  less  than  the  Agricultural.  In  the  instance 
be  correct ;  certainly  not  the  first  of  them. 

Note. — It  will  be  observed  to  the  left  of  the  outline,  that  is,  in  the  upper  and  left  hand  of  the  table, 
agricultural  are  the  most  numerous  between  the  outlines,  that  is,  especially  in  the  middle  of  the  table, 
equally  numerous  to  the  right  of  the  outlines,  that,  is,  to  the  right  of  the  table,  where  the  families  are 


TOWN  AND  COUNTRY  POPULATION. 


369 


Families  of  Agricultural  Labourers  in  Warwickshire,  grouped  according  to  the  Age  of 
of  Children  in  the  Family. 


Number  of  Children  in  Family. 

Age  of  Mother. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

fa 

3 
"3 

< 

>> 

0 
0 

fa 

"3 

3 

3 
0 

u 

>> 

u 

0 

03 

fa 

3 

I 

>> 

0 
0 

fa 

"3 

H 

s 
"3 

3> 

>> 

0 

C3 

fa 

% 

3 

"3 
0 

I 
6 

12 
21 

14 
15 

14 
7 

1 

6 
15 
25 
IS 
25 
22 
11 

4 
2 

9 
12 
12 
10 

3 

1 

5 
5 
9 
10 
15 
9 

2 

5 
4 
6 

7 

2 
1 
3 

5 

7 
7 

5 

2 

1 
2 
1 
2 
2 
1 

I 

24  to  25 
26  ,,  27 
28  „  29 
30  „  31 
32  „  33 
34  „  35 
36  „  37 
38  ,,  39 
40 

90 
90 

123 

52 

54 

24 

25 

7 

9 

I 

Total  within  outline. 
Total  between  outlines. 
Total  beyond  outline. 

123 

52 

54 

24 

25 

7 

9 

I 

Total. 

f  20—3 

here 
here  t 
rge. 

3,  the  a 

he  1110 

he  mu' 

nornaly 

;hers  a 
hers  ar 

is  dou 

re  you 

e  less 

ble,  bee 

ag  and 
jroung, 

ause  tl 

the  c 

and  th 

e  seque 

lildren 
e  famil 

2 

nee  of 

few,  tl 
les  are 

B 

the  figi 

le  fact 
from  f 

ires 

>ry 

)ur 

ahi 

fan 
;o 

>ws  that  neither  of  these  can 

ilies  predominate,  while  the 
five  in  number.    The  two  are 

370 


APPENDIX. 

Table  II. 


Number  of  Families. 

Number  of  Children. 

Factory. 

Agricultural. 

Factory. 

Agricultural. 

Within  outline 
Between  outlines 
Beyond         ,, 

541 

375 

84 

436 

476 

88 

903 

1233 

545 

778 

1562 

571 

Total 

1000 

1000 

2681 

2911 

D.— AN  APPAEATUS  FOP  TESTING  THE  DELICACY 
WITH  WHICH  WEIGHTS  CAN  BE  DISCRIMI- 
NATED BY  HANDLING  THEM. 

[Bead  at  the  Anthropological  Institute,  Nov.  14,  1882.] 

I  submit  a  simple  apparatus  that  I  have  designed  to  measure 
the  delicacy  of  the  sensitivity  of  different  persons,  as  shown  by 
their  skill  in  discriminating  weights,  identical  in  size,  form,  and 
colour,  but  different  in  specific  gravity.  Its  interest  lies  in  the 
accordance  of  the  successive  test  values  with  the  successive  gra- 
duations of  a  true  scale  of  sensitivity,  in  the  ease  with  which  the 
tests  are  applied,  and  the  fact  that  the  same  principle  can  be 
made  use  of  in  testing  the  delicacy  of  smell  and  taste. 

I  use  test- weights  that  mount  in  a  series  of  "just  perceptible 
differences  "  to  an  imaginary  person  of  extreme  delicacy  of  per- 
ception, their  values  being  calculated  according  to  Weber's  law. 
The  lowest  weight  is  heavy  enough  to  give  a  decided  sense  of 
weight  to  the  hand  when  handling  it,  and  the  heaviest  weight 
can  be  handled  without  any  sense  of  fatigue.  They  therefore 
conform  with  close  approximation  to  a  geometric  series ;  thus — 

WE0,    WR\    WE2,    WE*,  etc., 
and  they  bear  as  register-marks  the  values  of  the  successive  indices, 
0,  1,2,  3,  etc.     It  follows  that  if  a  person  can  just  distinguish 


TEST   WEIGHTS.  371 

between  any  particular  pair  of  weights,  lie  can  also  just  distinguish 
between  any  other  pair  of  weights  whose  register-marks  differ 
by  the  same  amount.  Example  :  suppose  A  can  just  distinguish 
between  the  weights  bearing  the  register-marks  2  and  4,  then 
it  follows  from  the  construction  of  the  apparatus  that  he  can 
just  distinguish  between  those  bearing  the  register-marks  1 
and  3,  or  3  and  5,  or  4  and  6,  etc.  ;  the  difference  being  2  in 
each  case. 

There  can  be  but  one  interpretation  of  the  phrase  that  the 
dulness  of  muscular  sense  in  any  person,  B,  is  twice  as  great  as 
in  that  of  another  person,  A.  It  is  that  B  is  only  capable  of 
perceiving  one  grade  of  difference  where  A  can  perceive  two. 
We  may,  of  course,  state  the  same  fact  inversely,  and  say  that 
the  delicacy  of  muscular  sense  is  in  that  case  twice  as  great  in  A 
as  in  B.  Similarly  in  all  other  cases  of  the  kind.  Conversely, 
if  having  known  nothing  previously  about  either  A  or  B,  we  dis- 
cover on  trial  that  A  can  just  distinguish  between  two  weights 
such  as  those  bearing  the  register-marks  5  and  7,  and  that  B  can 
just  distinguish  between  another  pair,  say,  bearing  the  register- 
marks  2  and  6  ;  then  since  the  difference  between  the  marks  in 
the  latter  case  is  twice  as  great  as  in  the  former,  we  know  that 
the  dulness  of  the  muscular  sense  of  B  is  exactly  twice  that  of 
A.  Their  relative  dulness,  or  if  we  prefer  to  speak  in  inverse 
terms,  and  say  their  relative  sensitivity,  is  determined  quite 
independently  of  the  particular  pair  of  weights  used  in  testing 
them. 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  conversion  of  results  obtained  by  the 
use  of  one  series  of  test-weights  into  what  would  have  been  given 
by  another  series,  is  a  piece  of  simple  arithmetic,  the  fact  ulti- 
mately obtained  by  any  apparatus  of  this  kind  being  the  "just 
distinguishable  "  fraction  of  real  weight.  In  my  own  apparatus 
the  unit  of  weight  is  2  per  cent ;  that  is,  the  register-mark  1 
means  2  per  cent ;  but  I  introduce  Aveights  in  the  earlier  part  of 
the  scale  that  deal  with  half  units  ;  that  is,  with  differences  of  1 
per  cent.  In  another  apparatus  the  unit  of  weight  might  be  3 
per  cent,  then  three  grades  of  mine  would  be  equal  to  two  of  the 
other,  and  mine  would  be  converted  to  that  scale  by  multiplying 
them  by  §.  Thus  the  results  obtained  by  different  apparatus  are 
strictly  comparable. 


372  APPENDIX. 

A  sufficient  number  of  test-weights  must  be  used,  or  trials 
made,  to  eliminate  the  influence  of  chance.  It  might  perhaps  be 
thought  that  by  using  a  series  of  only  five  weights,  and  requiring 
them  to  be  sorted  into  their  proper  order  by  the  sense  of  touch 
alone,  the  chance  of  accidental  success  would  be  too  small  to  be 
worth  consideration.      It  might  be  said  that  there  are  5  x  4  x  3  x 

2,  or  120  different  ways  in  which  five  weights  can  be  arranged, 
and  as  only  one  is  right,  it  must  be  120  to  1  against  a  lucky  hit. 
But  this  is  many  fold  too  high  an  estimate,  because  the  119  pos- 
sible mistakes  are  by  no  means  equally  probable.  When  a  person 
is  tested,  an  approximate  value  for  his  grade  of  sensitivity  is 
rapidly  found,  and  the  inquiry  becomes  narrowed  to  finding  out 
whether  he  can  surely  pass  a  particular  level.  At  this  stage  of 
the  inquiry  there  is  little  fear  of  a  gross  mistake.  He  is  little 
likely  to  make  a  mistake  of  double  the  amount  in  question,  and 
it  is  almost  certain  that  he  will  not  make  a  mistake  of  treble  the 
amount.  In  other  words,  he  would  never  be  likely  to  put  one  of 
the  test-weights  more  than  one  step  out  of  its  proper  place.  If 
he  had  three  weights  to  arrange  in  their  consecutive  order,  1,  2, 

3,  there  are  3x2  =  6  ways  of  arranging  them  ;  of  these,  he  would 
be  liable  to  the  errors  of  1,  3,  2,  and  of  2,  1,  3,  but  he  would 
hardly  be  liable  to  such  gross  errors  as  2,  3,  1,  or  3,  2,  1,  or  3, 
1,  2.  Therefore  of  the  six  permutations  in  which  three  weights 
may  be  arranged  three  have  to  be  dismissed  from  consideration, 
leaving  three  cases  only  to  be  dealt  with,  of  which  two  are  wrong 
and  one  is  right.  For  the  same  reason  there  are  only  four  reason- 
able chances  of  error  in  arranging  four  weights,  and  only  six  in 
arranging  five  weights,  instead  of  the  119  that  were  originally 
supposed.     These  are — 

12354    13245    13254 
21345    21354    21435 

But  exception  might  be  taken  to  two  even  of  these,  namety, 
those  that  appear  in  the  third  column,  where  5  is  found  in  juxta- 
position with  2  in  the  first  case,  and  4  with  1  in  the  second. 
So  great  a  difference  between  two  adjacent  weights  would  be 
almost  sure  to  attract  the  notice  of  the  person  who  was  being 
tested,  and  make  him  dissatisfied  with  the  arrangement.  Con- 
sidering all  this,  together  with  the  convenience  of  carriage  and 


TEST   WEIGHTS.  373 

manipulation,  I  prefer  to  use  trays,  each  containing  only  three 
weights,  the  trials  being  made  three  or  four  times  in  succession. 
In  each  trial  there  are  three  possibilities  and  only  one  success, 
therefore  in  three  trials  the  probabilities  against  uniform  success 
are  as  27  to  1,  and  in  four  trials  at  81  to  1. 

Values  of  the  Weights. — After  preparatory  trials,  I  adopted 
1000  grains  as  the  value  of  W  and  1020  as  that  of  E,  but  I  am 
now  inclined  to  think  that  1010  would  have  been  better.  I  made 
the  weights  by  filling  blank  cartridges  Avith  shot,  wool,  and  wads, 
so  as  to  distribute  the  weight  equally,  and  I  closed  the  cartridges 
with  a  wad,  turning  the  edges  over  it  with  the  instrument  well 
known  to  sportsmen.  I  wrote  the  corresponding  value  of  the 
index  of  B  on  the  wad  by  which  each  of  them  was  closed,  to 
serve  as  a  Register  Number.  Thus  the  cartridge  whose  weight 
was  WR^  was  marked  4\  The  values  were  so  selected  that  there 
should  be  as  few  varieties  as  possible.  There  are  thirty  weights 
in  all,  but  only  ten  varieties,  whose  Register  Numbers  are  respec- 
tively 0,  1,  2,  3,  3|,  4£,  5,  6,  7,  9,  12.  The  reason  of  this  limi- 
tation of  varieties  was  to  enable  the  weights  to  be  interchanged 
whenever  there  became  reason  to  suspect  that  the  eye  had  begun 
to  recognise  the  appearance  of  any  one  of  them,  and  that  the 
judgment  might  be  influenced  by  that  recognition,  and  cease  to 
be  wholly  guided  by  the  sense  of  weight.  We  are  so  accustomed 
to  deal  with  concurrent  impressions  that  it  is  exceedingly  difficult, 
even  with  the  best  intention  of  good  faith,  to  ignore  the  influence 
of  any  corroborative  impression  that  may  be  present.  It  is  there- 
fore right  to  take  precautions  against  this  possible  cause  of  inac- 
curacy. The  most  perfect  way  would  be  to  drop  the  weights, 
each  in  a  little  bag  or  sheath  of  light  material,  so  that  the  operatee 
could  not  see  the  weights,  while  the  ratio  between  the  weights 
would  not  be  sensibly  changed  by  the  additional  weight  of  the 
bags.  I  keep  little  bags  for  this  purpose,  inside  the  box  that 
holds  the  weights. 

Arrangement  of  the  Weights. — The  weights  are  placed  in  sets 
of  threes,  each  set  in  a  separate  shallow  tray,  and  the  trays  lie 
in  two  rows  in  a  box.  Each  tray  bears  the  Register  Marks  of 
each  of  the  weights  it  contains.  It  is  also  marked  boldly  with 
a  Roman  numeral  showing  the  difference  between  the  Register 
Marks  of  the  adjacent  weights.     This  difference  indicates  the 


374 


APPENDIX. 


grade  of  sensitivity  that  the  weights  in  the  tray  are  designed  to 

test.  Thus  the  tray  containing 
the  weights  WR\  WR,  WR*  is 
marked  as  in  Fig.  1,  and  that 
which  contains  WR\  WR\  WRli 
is  marked  as  in  Fig.  2. 

The  following  is  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  trays  in  the  box.  The  triplets  they  contain  suffice 
for  ordinary  purposes. 


Fig.  l. 


Fig.  2. 


Just 

perceptible 

Ratio. 

Grade  of 

Sensitivity. 

Sequences 
of  Weights. 

Just 

perceptible 

Ratio. 

Grade  of 

Sensitivity. 

Sequences 
of  Weights. 

1-020 
1-040 
1-061 
1  '082 
1-104 

I. 
II. 

III. 

IV. 
V. 

1,2,3 
3,  5,  7 

0,  3,  6 

1,  5,  9 
2,5,  7 

1-030 
1-050 
,1-071 
1-082 
1-127 

I.  J 

II.i 

IILi 

IV.  \ 
VI. 

2,  Zh,     5 
2,  Ah,    7 
0,  3i,    7 
0,  4i,    9 
0,  6,    12 

But  it  will  be  observed  that  sequences  of  £  can  also  be  obtained, 
and  again,  that  it  is  easy  to  select  doublets  of  weights  for  coarser 
tests,  up  to  a  maximum  difference  of  XII.,  which  may  be  useful 
in  cases  of  morbidly  diminished  sensitivity. 

Manipulation. — A  tray  is  taken  out,  the  three  weights  that 
it  contains  are  shuffled  by  the  operator,  who  then  passes  them 
on  to  the  experimenter.  The  latter  sits  at  ease  with  his  hand 
in  an  unconstrained  position,  and  lifts  the  weights  in  turn  be- 
tween his  finger  and  thumb,  the  finger  pressing  against  the  top, 
the  thumb  against  the  bottom  of  the  cartridge.  Guided  by 
the  touch  alone,  he  arranges  them  in  the  tray  in  what  he  con- 
ceives to  be  their  proper  sequence  ;  he  then  returns  the  tray 
to  the  operator,  who  notes  the  result,  the  operator  then  re- 
shuffles the  weights  and  repeats  the  trial.  It  is  necessary  to 
begin  with  coarse  preparatory  tests,  to  accustom  the  operatee  to 
the  character  of  the  work.  After  a  minute  or  two  the  operator 
may  begin  to  record  results,  and  the  testing  may  go  for  several 
minutes,  until  the  hand  begins  to  tire,  the  judgment  to  be  con- 


WHISTLES   FOR   HIGH   NOTES.  375 

fused,  and  blunders  to  arise.  Practice  does  not  seem  to  increase 
the  delicacy  of  perception  after  the  first  few  trials,  so  much  as 
might  be  expected. 


E.— WHISTLES  FOR  TESTING  THE  UPPER  LIMITS  OF 
AUDIBLE  SOUND  IN  DIFFERENT  INDIVIDUALS. 

The  base  of  the  inner  tube  of  the  whistle  is  the  foremost  end 
of  a  plug,  that  admits  of  being  advanced  or  withdrawn  by  screw- 
ing it  out  or  in ;  thus  the  depth  of  the  inner  tube  of  the  whistle 
can  be  varied  at  pleasure.  The  more  nearly  the  plug  is  screwed 
home,  the  less  is  the  depth  of  the  whistle  and  the  more  shrill 
does  its  note  become,  until  a  point  is  reached  at  which,  although 
the  air  that  proceeds  from  it  vibrates  as  violently  as  before,  as 
shown  by  its  effect  on  a  sensitive  flame,  the  note  ceases  to  be 
audible. 

The  number  of  vibrations  per  second  in  the  note  of  a  whistle 
or  other  "closed  pipe"  depends  on  its  depth.  The  theory  of 
acoustics  shows  that  the  length  of  each  complete  vibration  is 
four  times  that  of  the  depth  of  the  closed  pipe,  and  since  ex- 
perience proves  that  all  sound,  whatever  may  be  its  pitch,  is 
propagated  at  the  same  rate,  which  under  ordinary  conditions  of 
temperature  and  barometric  pressure  may  be  taken  at  1120  feet, 
or  13,440  inches  per  second, — it  follows  that  the  number  of 
vibrations  in  the  note  of  a  whistle  may  be  found  by  dividing 
13,440  by  four  times  the  depth,  measured  in  inches,  of  the  inner 
tube  of  the  whistle.  This  rule,  however,  supposes  the  vibrations 
of  the  air  in  the  tube  to  be  strictly  longitudinal,  and  ceases  to 
apply  when  the  depth  of  the  tube  is  less  than  about  one  and  a 
half  times  its  diameter.  When  the  tube  is  reduced  to  a  shallow 
pan,  a  note  may  still  be  produced  by  it,  but  that  note  has  refer- 
ence rather  to  the  diameter  of  the  whistle  than  to  its  depth,  being 
sometimes  apparently  unaltered  by  a  further  decrease  of  depth. 
The  necessity  of  preserving  a  fair  proportion  between  the  dia- 
meter and  the  depth  of  a  whistle  is  the  reason  why  these  instru- 
ments, having  necessarily  little  depth,  require  to  be  made  with 
very  small  bores. 

The  depth  of  the  inner  tube  of  the  whistle  at  any  moment 


376 


APPENDIX. 


is  shown  by  the  graduations  on  the  outside  of  the  instrument. 
The  lower  portion  of  the  instrument  as  made  for  me  by  Messrs. 
Tisley,  opticians,  172  Brompton  Road,  London,1  is  a  cap  that  sur- 
rounds the  body  of  the  whistle,  and  is  itself  fixed  to  the  screw 
that  forms  the  plug.  One  complete  turn  of  the  cap  increases  or 
diminishes  the  depth  of  the  whistle,  by  an  amount  equal  to  the 
interval  between  two  adjacent  threads  of  the  screw.  For  me- 
chanical convenience,  a  screw  is  used  whose  pitch  is  25  to  the 
inch,  therefore  one  turn  of  the  cap  moves  the  plug  one  twenty- 
fifth  of  an  inch,  or  ten  two  hundred-and-fiftieths.  The  edge  of 
the  cap  is  divided  into  ten  parts,  each  of  which  corresponds  to 
the  tenth  of  a  complete  turn  ;  and,  therefore,  to  one  two-hundred- 
and-fiftieth  of  an  inch.  Hence  in  reading  off  the  graduations 
the  tens  are  shown  on  the  body  of  the  whistle,  and  the  units  are 
shown  on  the  edge  of  the  cap. 

The  scale  of  the  instrument  having  for  its  unit  the  two-hun- 
dred-and-fiftieth  part  of  an  inch,  it  follows  that  the  number  of 
vibrations  in  the  note  of  the  whistle  is  to  be  found  by  dividing 

13440x250 

or  84,000,  by  the  graduations  read  off  on  its  scale. 

A  short  table  is  annexed,  giving  the  number  of  vibrations 
calculated  by  this  formula,  for  different  depths,  bearing  in  mind 
that  the  earlier  entries  cannot  be  relied  upon  unless  the  whistle 
has  a  very  minute  bore,  and  consequently  a  very  feeble  note. 


Scale  Readings 

Corresponding 

Scale  Readings 

Corresponding 

(one  division  =  -^m 

Number  of  Vibrations 

(one  division  =  -5-5-^ 

Number  of  Vibrations 

of  an  inch). 

per  Second. 

of  an  inch). 

per  Second. 

10 

84,000 

75 

11,200 

15 

56,000 

80 

ln,500 

20 

42,000 

85 

9,882 

25 

33,600 

90 

9,333 

30 

28,000 

95 

8,842 

35 

24,000 

100 

8,400 

40 

21,000 

105 

8,000 

45 

18,666 

110 

7,591 

50 

16,800 

115 

7,305 

55 

15,273 

120 

7,000 

60 

14,000 

125 

6,720 

65 

12,923 

130 

6,461 

70 

12,000 

1  Mr.  Hawksley,   surgical   instrument  maker,    307    Oxford   Street,   alio 
makes  these  whistles,  and  those  they  make  have  much  purity  of  tone. 


WHISTLES   FOR   HIGH   NOTES.  377 

The  largest  whistles  suitable  for  experiments  on  the  human 
ear,  have  an  inner  tube  of  about  0'16  inches  in  diameter,  which 
is  equal  to  40  units  of  the  scale.  Consequently  in  these  instru- 
ments the  theory  of  closed  pipes  ceases  to  be  trustworthy  when 
the  depth  of  the  whistle  is  less  than  about  60  units.  In  short, 
we  cannot  be  sure  of  sounding  with  them  a  higher  note  than  one 
of  14,000  vibrations  to  the  second,  unless  we  use  tubes  of  still 
smaller  bore.  In  some  of  my  experiments  I  was  driven  to  use 
very  fine  tubes  indeed,  not  wider  than  those  little  glass  tubes 
that  hold  the  smallest  leads  for  Mordan's  pencils.  I  have  tried 
without  much  success  to  produce  a  note  that  should  be  both 
shrill  and  powerful,  and  correspond  to  a  battery  of  small  whistles, 
by  flattening  a  piece  of  brass  tube,  and  passing  another  sheet  of 
brass  up  it,  and  thus  forming  a  whistle  the  whole  width  of  the 
sheet,  but  of  very  small  diameter  from  front  to  back.  It  made 
a  powerful  note,  but  not  a  very  pure  one.  I  also  constructed  an 
annular  whistle  by  means  of  three  cylinders,  one  sliding  within 
the  other  two,  and  graduated  as  before. 

When  the  limits  of  audibility  are  approached,  the  sound  be- 
comes much  fainter,  and  when  that  limit  is  reached,  the  sound 
usually  gives  place  to  a  peculiar  sensation,  which  is  not  sound  but 
more  like  dizziness,  and  which  some  persons  experience  to  a  high 
degree.  Young  people  hear  shriller  sounds  than  older  people, 
and  I  am  told  there  is  a  proverb  in  Dorsetshire,  that  no  agricul- 
tural labourer  who  is  more  than  forty  years  old,  can  hear  a  bat 
squeak.  The  power  of  hearing  shrill  notes  has  nothing  to  do 
with  sharpness  of  hearing,  any  more  than  a  wide  range  of  the 
key-board  of  a  piano  has  to  do  with  the  sound  of  the  individual 
strings.  We  all  have  our  limits,  and  that  limit  may  be  quickly 
found  by  these  whistles  in  every  case.  The  facility  of  hearing 
shrill  sounds  depends  in  some  degree  on  the  position  of  the 
whistle,  for  it  is  highest  when  it  is  held  exactly  opposite  the 
opening  of  the  ear.  Any  roughness  of  the  lining  of  the  auditory 
canal  appears  to  have  a  marked  effect  in  checking  the  trans- 
mission of  rapid  vibrations  when  they  strike  the  ear  obliquely. 
I  myself  feel  this  in  a  marked  degree,  and  I  have  long  noted  the 
fact  in  respect  to  the  buzz  of  a  mosquito.  I  do  not  hear  the 
mosquito  much  as  it  flies  about,  but  when  it  passes  close  by  my 
ear  I  hear  a  "ping,"  the  suddenness  of  which  is  very  striking. 


378  APPENDIX. 

Mr.  Dalby,  the  aurist,  to  whom  I  gave  one  of  these  instruments, 
tells  me  he  uses  it  for  diagnoses.  When  the  power  of  hearing 
high  notes  is  wholly  lost,  the  loss  is  commonly  owing  to  failure 
in  the  nerves,  but  when  very  deaf  people  are  still  able  to  hear 
high  notes  if  they  are  sounded  with  force,  the  nerves  are  usually 
all  right,  and  the  fault  lies  in  the  lining  of  the  auditory  canal. 


F.— QUESTIONS  ON  VISUALISING  AND  OTHER 
ALLIED  FACULTIES. 

The  Questions  that  I  circulated  were  as  follows ;  there  was 
an  earlier  and  uncomplete  form,  which  I  need  not  reproduce 
here. 

The  object  of  these  Questions  is  to  elicit  the  degree  in  which 
different  persons  possess  the  power  of  seeing  images  in  their 
mind's  eye,  and  of  reviving  past  sensations. 

From  inquiries  I  have  already  made,  it  appears  that  remark- 
able variations  exist  both  in  the  strength  and  in  the  quality  of 
these  faculties,  and  it  is  highly  probable  that  a  statistical  inquiry 
into  them  will  throw  light  upon  more  than  one  psychological 
problem. 

Before  addressing  yourself  to  any  of  the  Questions  on  the 
opposite  page,  think  of  some  definite  object — suppose  it  is  your 
breakfast-table  as  you  sat  down  to  it  this  morning — and  consider 
carefully  the  picture  that  rises  before  your  mind's  eye. 

1.  Illumination. — Is  the  image  dim  or  fairly  clear  1  Is  its 
brightness  comparable  to  that  of  the  actual  scene  1 

2.  Definition. — Are  all  the  objects  pretty  well  defined  at  the 
same  time,  or  is  the  place  of  sharpest  definition  at  any  one 
moment  more  contracted  than  it  is  in  a  real  scene  1 

3.  Colouring. — Are  the  colours  of  the  china,  of  the  toast, 
bread  crust,  mustard,  meat,  parsley,  or  whatever  may  have  been 
on  the  table,  quite  distinct  and  natural  1 

4.  Extent  of  field  of  view. — Call  up  the  image  of  some  panor- 
amic view  (the  walls  of  your  room  might  suffice),  can  you  force 
yourself  to  see  mentally  a  wider  range  of  it  than  could  be  taken 
in  by  any  single  glance  of  the  eyes  1      Can  you  mentally  see 


QUESTIONS    ON   VISUALISING,    ETC.  379 

more  than  three  faces  of  a  die,  or  more  than  one  hemisphere  of 
a  globe  at  the  same  instant  of  time  1 

5.  Distance  of  images. — Where  do  mental  images  appear  to 
be  situated  1  within  the  head,  within  the  eye-ball,  just  in  front 
of  the  eyes,  or  at  a  distance  corresponding  to  reality  ]  Can  you 
project  an  image  upon  a  piece  of  paper  1 

6.  Command  over  images. — Can  you  retain  a  mental  picture 
steadily  before  the  eyes  1  When  you  do  so,  does  it  grow  brighter 
or  dimmer  1  When  the  act  of  retaining  it  becomes  wearisome, 
in  what  part  of  the  head  or  eye-ball  is  the  fatigue  felt  1 

7.  Persons. — Can  you  recall  with  distinctness  the  features  of 
all  near  relations  and  many  other  persons  1  Can  you  at  will  cause 
your  mental  image  of  any  or  most  of  them  to  sit,  stand,  or  turn 
slowly  round  1  Can  you  deliberately  seat  the  image  of  a  well- 
known  person  in  a  chair  and  see  it  with  enough  distinctness  to 
enable  you  to  sketch  it  leisurely  (supposing  yourself  able  to  draw)  '? 

8.  Scenery. — Do  you  preserve  the  recollection  of  scenery  with 
much  precision  of  detail,  and  do  you  find  pleasure  in  dwelling 
on  it  %  Can  you  easily  form  mental  pictures  from  the  descrip- 
tions of  scenery  that  are  so  frequently  met  with  in  novels  and 
books  of  travel  1 

9.  Comparison  with  reality. — What  difference  do  you  perceive 
between  a  very  vivid  mental  picture  called  up  in  the  dark,  and 
a  real  scene  1  Have  you  ever  mistaken  a  mental  image  for  a 
reality  when  in  health  and  wide  awake  1 

10.  Numerals  and  dates. — Are  these  invariably  associated  in 
your  mind  with  any  peculiar  mental  imagery,  whether  of  written 
or  printed  figures,  diagrams,  or  colours  1  If  so,  explain  fully, 
and  say  if  you  can  account  for  the  association  1 

11.  Specialities. — If  you  happen  to  have  special  aptitudes  for 
mechanics,  mathematics  (either  geometry  of  three  dimensions  or 
pure  analysis),  mental  arithmetic,  or  chess-playing  blindfold, 
please  explain  fully  how  far  your  processes  depend  on  the  use  of 
visual  images,  and  how  far  otherwise  ? 

12.  Call  up  before  your  imagination  the  objects  specified  in 
the  six  following  paragraphs,  numbered  A  to  F,  and  consider 
carefully  whether  your  mental  representation  of  them  generally, 
is  in  each  group  very  faint,  faint,  fair,  good,  or  vivid  and  com- 
parable to  the  actual  sensation  : — 


380  APPENDIX. 

A.  Light  and  colour. — An  evenly  clouded  sky  (omitting  all 

landscape),  first  bright,  then  gloomy.  A  thick  sur- 
rounding haze,  first  white,  then  successively  blue, 
yellow,  green,  and  red. 

B.  Sound. — The  beat  of  rain  against  the  window  panes,  the 

crack  of  a  whip,  a  church  bell,  the  hum  of  bees,  the 
whistle  of  a  railway,  the  clinking  of  tea-spoons  and 
saucers,  the  slam  of  a  door. 

C.  Smells. — Tar,  roses,  an  oil-lamp  blown  out,  hay,  violets, 

a  fur  coat,  gas,  tobacco. 

D.  Tastes.  —  Salt,    sugar,    lemon  juice,    raisins,    chocolate, 

currant  jelly. 

E.  Touch. — Velvet,  silk,  soap,  gum,   sand,  dough,  a  crisp 

dead  leaf,  the  prick  of  a  pin. 

F.  Oilier   sensations. — Heat,    hunger,    cold,   thirst,    fatigue, 

fever,  drowsiness,  a  bad  cold. 

13.  Musk. — Have  you  any  aptitude  for  mentally  recalling 
music,  or  for  imagining  it  1 

14.  At  different  ages. — Do  you  recollect  what  your  powers  of 
visualising,  etc.,  were  in  childhood  ?  Have  they  varied  much 
within  your  recollection  1 

General  remarks. — Supplementary  information  written  here, 
or  on  a  separate  piece  of  paper,  will  be  acceptable. 


PLATE  1. 
EvcanifilcA' •  utWurnOcr-Forr/ts : 


UcAsan  A  C  L'Ltfi   IS^Ked,  lion  Sgziccr 


PLATE  11. 
Examples  ofXwnbcr  Forms. 


?«>. 


ns_ lto 


"BmywmJb  'nj^,  <<*  own  tint 

Z  n-hilc.   *  «m»D(  .    7  bh<f  . 


-mtmvrixU      the  colcurj  art  Sum 

miUlfriticl-      cFthc  field  art   vrh&h 

Jure.  tlit  fCqurea  apprtm 


Fotrjitvr   cr^f  'i  umili 


■'>      light 


12, 


Jointed*  Tui'#  flont 
Sht  u&e      ina  neutral  tint-. 

JOS!**       Shade,      Jx*Mm- 

y  Lnjhf. 


Black  Tftn ■//-,-/•>• 
Hooding  ft  <» 
St'brn  fir-it- 

grorfTU  t 
.lfl   lut€    '-■ 


Some  members ,     i*#    *is.36,i08, 

on'  bruffif'fttsfi/  mar&cUfvnecl 
them  Mil  tv*t      ft  tfn>\i  far  td''n 


37 


The  most proT/iZf nf tt  numbers  £tr»  those-  tfmb 
OCClir  en    tfif    rnteJHp{fr'*/*<rt     fr/dJe 

12<?     Thnrtu&tjpUerw  of  7-£<xrv  espeeiaZlp 

Jfronnricritr 


*S      3G       Z7  Z5 


13Z         X4fl  14-Or 

Hi  L  xlo     "^  ^c  muUfpUe 
oFIQoLficLlZ. 

■«-    ^s     5i     ao     yt-T"     »i-  .84-    9i    aa 

*0       49    SO       «1...5rO     7S...OO      85.. .90     97.  -lOO 


L     5        A         4 


6,»-aVte  t*p  ^  1000.  Thso.li*  doi 

in  10  etc.    Tn*Y\-  oqgpmr  oU  a&y  oF&vt 

c<rrnei-s   rn*c\rhecl  %■  . 


o  Scarlet. 
&  <gr?en,. 

f   yvJ.hyw-afrce*v 

S    fbish.  COlotcr. 
3  'puvh' 


Compound  numbers  hcuT  the<Unts 
of  fhar  corny qtvcziAa . 


□ 


40. 


.ilnpit  ton-ctrris 
cl  bottnm/ess 

i  ooo  ooo  Tics 

Ad.A-< 


44 


!?0 

SOO        ISO 

too      xp 


Is  80 


M    *T 


siii 


Zhy 
Ad.A-e 


45. 


the  ttti*  ,tr?  c'<:   a   Zp< 
\     a      o     e      o     3 


'•Hi 


.  G2I 


!    9     2     »       8» 

>      >       O        K  *      M 


41 


J.D.  r 


. 


PLATE  111. 


Examples  of  an  HcrcditmyTendenwtuMr  JVwmber -Forms. 


^.Boftaiu-esM-here  the  ManberRrmsw.  Soan&^xmHrmt  ((like 


46. 


50  ■ 


47 


•      IOO    99     80 


46       # 


SO  ao 


A.B-d.(H-'w) 


eft- 


49. 


S  B-d.  (H_V| 


J3F<y  Sisters  JViunberForni  is 
described  ashcvncfnecaiyth^- 
scotui.cvccpt  bhctf?  the  first 
chanqe  of  direction-  is  cvtio 


.54 


so       so         ao 


.IB  6d 


55 


•^. 


56. 


59. 


up 


■'    V     oP 


17.18  and  \°><m 
irvoochxrk.     shadow 


-*P —    OTt'O'leml  wxthtfutyz 


\  ne^ott'^'e 


60 


_io  L^otvol  Zevrf'  tnflt  ^A*-^^. 


3Jnsbcaur#  whei-c  the  Manb<2'Ibi7nsTri  same  iharaty  art,  KlUlkf/. 


SO,  fig.  1 

+0  , 


%? 


50. 


100000 
1000 

52. 


H-B-r    £EJi.) 


ISO 

c_a:m-! 


57.       » 


58 


Ths  'tocns  ocrv  seen  written*. 


rccrwutfb" 

J    (l.i  .  X     -VM 


INDEX. 

For  an  analysis  of  the  several  chapters,  see  Table  of  Contents. 


Abbadie,  A.,  118,  139 

Aborigines,  310 

About,  E.,  145 

Abstract  ideas,  like  composite  por- 
traits, 183  ;  are  formed  with  dif- 
ficulty, 201 

Admiralty,  records  of  lives  of  sailors, 
42 

Adoption,  328 

Africa,  oxen,  70  ;  captive  animals, 
248  ;  races  of  men,  312-316 

Alert,  H.M.S.,  the  crew  of,  7 

Alexander  the  Great,  medals  of,  1 1 ; 
his  help  to  Aristotle,  258 

America,  captive  animals,  246  ; 
change  of  population,  315 

Antechamber  op  Consciousness, 
203 

Anthropometric  Eegisters,  40  ; 
anthropometric  committee,  19,53; 
laboratories,  40 

Appold,  Mr.,  346 

Arabs,  their  migrations,  312,  316 

Associations,  182  ;  see  also  Psy- 
chometric experiments,  185 

Assyria,  captive  animals,  256 

Athletic  feats  in  present  and  past 
generations,  21 

Augive,  or  ogive,  51 

Austin,  A.  L.,  346 

Australia,  tame  kites,  251 

Automatic  thought,  205 

Aversion,  214 

Banks  entrusted  with  charitable 
funds,  292 


Barclay,  Capt.,  of  Uri,  2 1 

Barrel,  24 

Barth,  Dr.,  250 

Bates,  W.  H.,  248 

Baume,  Dr,,  229 

Belief  (see  Faith),  210  ;  suspense  of, 

298 
Bevington,  Miss  L.,  147 
Bible,  family,  43 
Bidder,  G.,  116,  118,  133 
Blackburne,  Mr.,  96 
Blake,  the  artist,  94 
Bleuler  and  Lehman,  148 
Blind,  the,  30 
Blood,  terror  at,  60 
Bodily  Qualities,  19 
Boisbaudran,  Lecoq  de,  105 
Breaking  out  (violent  passion),  6 
Brierre  de  Boismont,  175 
Bruhl,  Prof.,  147 
Burton,  Capt.,  249 
Bushmen,   their  skill  in  drawing, 

101  ;  in  Damara  Land,  314 

Campbell,  Lord,  Lives  of  the  Chan- 
cellors, 286 

Campbell,  J.  (of  Islay),  260 

Candidates,  selection  of,  324 

Captive  Animals,  see  Domestication 
of  Animals,  245 

Caretaker  and  silkworms,  272. 

Cats  can  hear  very  shrill  notes,  39. 

Cattle,  their  terror  at  blood,  60  ; 
gregariousness  of,  70  ;  renders 
them  easy  to  tend,  268  ;  cow 
guarding  her  newly-born  calf,  7  6 ; 


;82 


INDEX. 


cattle  highly  prized  by  Damaras, 
266 

Celibacy  as  a  religious  exercise,  68  ; 
effect  of  endowments  upon,  329  ; 
prudential,  318;  to  prevent  con- 
tinuance of  an  inferior  race,  336 

Centesimal  grades,  53 

Chance,  influence  of,  in  test  experi- 
ments, 372 

Chancellors,  Lord,  286 

Character,  56  ;  observations  on 
at  schools,  57  ;  changing  phases 
of,  178,  181 

Charterhouse  College,  131,  136 

Cheltenham  College,  130,  140 

Chess,  played  blindfold,  95 

Children,  mental  imagery,  99  ;  asso- 
ciations, 182,  195  ;  effect  of  ill- 
ness on  growth  of  head,  235  ; 
moral  impressions  on,  241  ;  they 
and  their  parents  understand  each 
other,  242  ;  can  hear  shrill  notes, 
377 

Chinese,  the,  316 

Churches  formerly  supposed  to  have 
immunity  from  lightning,  etc., 
293 

Clergy,  their  relative  mortality,  282 ; 
stillborn  children  of,  285  ;  as 
business  coadjutors,  289 

Clock  face,  origin  of  some  Number- 
Forms,  128,  136 

Colleges,  celibacy  of  Fellows  of,  329 

Colour  Associations,  145  (see  also 
chap,  on  Visionaries,  157  onwards) ; 
colour  blindness,  45 

Comfort,  love  of,  a  condition  of  do- 
mesticability,  263 

Communion  with  the  Deity,  294  ; 
with  our  own  hearts,  298 

Competitive  examinations,  324, 
327 

Composite  Portraiture,  8  ;  also 
Memoirs  I.,  II.,  and  III.  in  Ap- 
pendix, 340,  349,  354 

Composite,  origin  of  some  visions, 
173  ;  of  ideas,  183  ;  of  memories, 
349 


Composition,  automatic,  204  ;  liter- 
ary, 206 

Conclusion,  321 

Conscience,  defective  in  criminals, 
61,  62  ;  its  origin,  211 

Consciousness,  see  Antechamber  of, 
203  ;  ignorance  of  its  relation  to 
the  unconscious  lives  of  cells  of 
organism,  301  ;  its  limited  ken, 
186,  202,  333 

Consumption,  types  of  features  con- 
nected with,  17 

Cooper,  Miss,  133 

Criminals  and  the  Insane,  61  ; 
criminals,  their  features,  15,  18, 
343  ;  their  children,  214 

Cromwell's  soldiers,  7 

Cuckoo,  242 

D alton,  colour  blindness,  45  ;  was 
a  Quaker,  48 

Damaras,  their  grade  of  sensitivity, 
30  ;  their  wild  cattle  and  gregari- 
ousness,  70 ;  their  pride  in  them, 
266  ;  races  of  men  in  Damara 
land,  314 

Dante,  215 

Darwin,  Charles,  impulse  given  by 
him  to  new  lines  of  thought,  179; 
on  conscience,  212  ;  notes  on 
twins,  226,  228  ;  letter  of  Mr. 
A.  L.  Austin  forwarded  by,  346 

Darwin,  Lieut.,  R.  E.,  photographs 
of  Royal  Engineers,  14 

Deaf-mutes,  208 

Death,  fear  of,  213  ;  its  orderly 
occurrence,  237  ;  death  and  re- 
production of  cells,  and  their 
tinknown  relation  to  conscious- 
ness, 301 

Despine,  Prosper,  61 

Difference,  verbal  difficulty  in  defin- 
ing many  grades  of,  33 

Discipline,  ascetic,  68,  174 

Discovery,  HM.S.,  the  crew  of,  7 

Discrimination  of  weights  by  hand- 
ling them,  etc.,  35 

Dividualism,  207,  333  ;  also  67. 


INDEX. 


383 


Divines,  283. 

Doctrines,  diversity  of,  210,  332 

Domestication  op  Animals,  243 

Dreaming,  169 

Du  Cane,  Sir  E.,  15 

Dukes,  287 

Duncan,  Dr.  Mathews,  320 

Earlswood  Asylum  for  idiots,  28 
Early  and  late  Marriages,  320 
Early  Sentiments,  208 
Ecstasy,  67,  207 
Editors  of  newspapers,  166,  205 
Efficacy  of  prayer,  objective,  277 
Egg,  raw  and  boiled,   when  spun, 

37 
Egypt,  captive  animals,  256 
Ellis,  Eev.  Mr.  (Polynesia),  252 
Emigrants,  value  of  their  breed,  82, 
308  ;     migration    of     barbarian 
races,  313 
Endowments,  328. 
Energy,  25. 

Engineers,  Royal,  features  of,  14 
English    race,   change   of  type,  6  ; 
colour  of  hair,  7  ;  one  direction 
in  which  it  might  be  improved, 
1 4  ;  change  of  stature,  1 9  ;  vari- 
ous components  of,  311 
Enthusiasm,  294  ;  see  also  206 
Epileptic  constitution,  65 
Eskimo,  faculty  of  drawing  and  map- 
making,  103 
Eugenic,  definition  of  the  word,  24 
Events,  observed  order  of,  299 
Evolution,    its    effects    are    always 
behind-hand,  212  ;  its  slow  pro- 
gress, 302  ;  man  should  deliber- 
ately further  it,  2,  304,  334 
Exiles,  families  of,  30 
Experiments,  psychometric,  185. 

Faces    seen  in   the   fire,    on  wall 

paper,  etc.,  170,  95 
Faith,  210  ;  suspense  of,  298 
Family  likenesses,  12  ;  records,  41 ; 

merit,  marks  for,  323 
Fashion,  changes  of,  180 


Fasting,  Aasions  caused  by,  174  : 
fasting  girls,  207 

Features,  4 

Fellows  of  colleges,  329 

Fertility  at  different  ages,  320  ;  is 
small  in  highly-bred  animals,  306 

Fire-faces,  170,  95 

First  Cause,  an  enigma,  302,  299 

Fleas  are  healthful  stimuli  to  ani- 
mals, 26 

Fluency  of  language  and  ideas,  205 

Forest  clearing,  304 

Forms  in  which  numerals  are  seen 
(see  Number-Forms),  114;  months, 
124  ;  letters,  125  ;  dates,  183 

Foxes,  preservation  of,  27 

France,  political  persecution  in,  80 

French,  the,  imaginative  faculty  of, 
100 

Friends,  the  Society  of,  see  Quakers, 
47 

Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  257 

Generations,  length  of  and  effect  in 
population,  322  ;  in  town  and 
country  populations,  367 

Generic  images,  109  ;  theory  of, 
184,  349 

Geometric  series  of  test-objects,  34  ; 
geometric  mean,  57 

Gerard,  Jules,  253 

Gesture-language,  202 

Gibbon,  amphitheatrical  shows,  257 

Goethe  and  his  visualised  rose,  159, 
163 

Gomara,  257 

Goodwin,  Mr.  (China),  248 

Grades,  deficiency  of  in  language, 
33  ;  centesimal,  53 

Graham,  Dr.,  on  idiots,  29 

Gregarious  and  Slavish  In- 
stincts, 68  ;  gregariousness  of 
cattle,  70,  268  ;  gregarious  ani- 
mals quickly  learn  from  one 
another,  214 

Gull,  Sir  W.,  on  vigour  of  members 
of  large  families,  326  ;  on  medi- 
cal life-histories,  337 


384 


INDEX. 


Guy,  Dr.,  statistics  of  longevity,  281 
Guy's   Hospital  Reports  (consump- 
tive types),  16 
Gypsies,  312 

Hair,  colour  of,  7 

Hall,  Capt.,  103 

Hallucinations,  cases  of,  167  ;  origin 
of,  169 

Handwriting,  126  ;  of  twins,  220 

Hanwell  Asylum,  lunatics  when  at 
exercise,  67 

Hatherley,  Lord,  31 

Haweis,  Mrs.,  words  and  faces,  157  ; 
visions,  165 

Head  measured  for  curve  of  growth, 
235 

Hearne  (N.  America),  246,  247,  260 

Henslow,  Rev.  G.,  imagery,  97  ; 
Number-Forms,  1 1 8, 140 ;  visions, 
159 

Heredity,  the  family  tie,  43  ;  of 
colour  blindness  in  Quakers,  47  ; 
of  criminality,  63  ;  of  faculty  of 
visualising,  100  ;  of  seeing  Num- 
ber-Forms, 140  ;  of  colour  associa- 
tions with  sound,  143;  of  seer- 
.  ship,  173;  of  enthusiasm,  207, 
295  ;  of  character  and  its  help  in 
the  teaching  of  children  by  their 
parents,  242  ;  that  of  a  good  stock 
is  a  valuable  patrimony,  320 

Hershon,  Mr.,  the  Talmud,  145 

Hill,  Rev.  A.  D.,  131 

Hippocrates  and  snake  symbol,  59 

History  of  Twins,  216 

Holbein,  6 

Hollond,  F.  M.,  326 

Hottentots,  keenness  of  sight,  32 
(see  Bushmen,  101,  314) 

Humanity  of  the  future,  power  of 
present  generation  of  men  upon 
it,  317,  332 

Hutchinson,  Mr.,  102 

11  uxley,  Professor,  on  sucking  pigs 
in  New  Guinea,  252;  generic 
images,  350 

Hysteria,  65,  207,  296 


Idiots,  deficient  in  energy,  25  ;  in 
sensitivity,  28 

Illness,  permanent  effect  on  growth, 
235 

Illumination,  method  of  regulating 
it  when  making  composites,  358  ; 
requires  to  be  controlled,  184 

Illusions,  169;  see  also  hallucina- 
tions, cases  of,  167 

Imagery,  mental,  83 

Indian  Civil  Service,  candidates  for, 
327 

Individuality,  doubt  of  among  the 
insane,  67  ;  among  the  sane,  207, 
333 

Influence  of  Man  upon  Race, 
308 

Insane,  the,  66  ;  insanity,  religi- 
ous, 285  ;  similar  forms  of  it  in 
twins,  228 

Inspiration  analogous  to  ordinary 
fluency,  206 ;  morbid  forms  of, 
207  ;  investigation  of,  295 

Instability,  65 

Instincts,  variety  of,  2  ;  criminal, 
62 ;  slavish,  see  chapter  on  Gre- 
garious and  Slavish  Instincts,  68 

Insurance  rates  not  changed  owing 
to  devout  habits,  292 

Intellectual  Differences,  82 

Jesuits  in  S.  America,  319 
Jukes,  criminal  family,  63 

Kensington  Gardens,  the  promen- 

aders  in,  6 
Key,  Dr.  J.,  151 
Kingsley,  Miss  R.,  141 
Kirk,  Sir  John,  250 

Laboratories,  anthropometric,  40 
harden,  W.,  130 
Legros,  Prof.,  106 
Lehman  and  Bleuler,  148 
Lewis,  G.  H.,  147 
Lewis,  Miss,  133 

Life-histories,  their  importance,  44, 
336 


INDEX. 


385 


Livingstone,  Dr.,  250 
Longevity  of  families,  325 

Macalister,  Dr.,  51 

M'Leod,  Prof.  H.,  136 

Madness,  see  Insanity 

Mahomed,  Dr.,  16 

Malthus,  318  ;  marriage  portions, 
328 

Man,  his  influence  upon  race,  308 

Mann,  Dr.,  102 

Marks  for  Family  Merit,  323 

Marlborough  College,  19 

Marriages,  early  and  late,  320 ;  with 
persons  of  good  race,  327  ;  mar- 
riage portions,  328 ;  of  Fellows 
of  Colleges,  329  ;  promotion  of, 
335 

Medians  and  quartiles,  52  ;  see  93, 
94 

Memory,  193  ;  physiological  basis 
of,  349  ;  confusion  of  separate 
memories,  349 

Mental  Imagery,  83 

Meredith,  Mrs.,  214 

Milk  offered  by  she-goats  and  wolves 
to  children,  267 

Milton,  his  ascription  of  malice  to 
the  Deity,  275 

Missionaries  have  no  special  im- 
munities, 283,  289 

Moors,  migrations  of  the,  312 

Moreau,  Dr.  J.  (of  Tours),  228 

Morphy,  P.,  95 

Mortality,  apparently  uninfluenced 
by  prayer,  280 

Muscular  and  accompanying  senses, 
tests  of,  35 

Mussulmans,  small  fear  of  death, 
213;  things  clean  and  unclean, 
215 

Namaquas  in  Damara  Land,  314  (see 

also  Bushmen), 
Napoleon    I.,    views  in   connection 

with  the  faculty  of  visualising, 

112  ;  his  star,  175 
Nature  (see  Nurture  and  Nature),  177 


Necessitarianism,  237 

Negro  displaced  by  Berbers,  312  ; 
by  Bushmen,  314  ;  exported  as 
slaves,  315  ;  replaceable  by 
Chinese,  317 

New  Guinea,  252 

Nicholson,  Sir  C,  252 

Notes,  audibility  of,  very  shrill,  38, 
375 

Nourse,  Prof.  J.  E.,  103 

Number-Forms,  114 

Numerals,  their  nomenclature,  128; 
characters  assigned  to  them,  144  ; 
coloured,  145 

Nurture  and  Nature,  177  ;  his- 
tory of  twins,  217  ;  objections 
urged  against  statistical  inquiries 
upon,  271 

Nussbaumer,  brothers,  147 

Objective  Efficacy  of  Prayer, 

277 
Observed  Order  of  Events,  299 
Octiles,  53  ;  see  93,  94 
Ogive  (statistical  curve),  51 
Osten  Sacken,  Baron  v.,  118,  146 
Oswell,  Mr.,  250 
Oxen,  see  cattle 

Parkyns,  Mansfield,  248 

Peculiarities,  unconsciousness  of,  45 

Peru,  captive  animals  in,  2571 

Pet  animals,  244 

Petrie  Flinders,  95,  116 

Phantasmagoria,  166,  173 

Photographic  composites  (see  Com- 
posite Portraiture);  registers,  41, 
43  ;  summed  effect  of  a  thousand 
brief  exposures,  352  ;  order  of 
exposure  is  indifferent,  359 

Phthisis,  typical  features  of,  16 

Piety,  morbid  forms  of,  in  the  epi- 
leptic and  insane,  66,  68  ;  in  the 
hysterical,  207 

Pigafetta,  250,  253 

Polynesia,  pet  eels,  252 

Poole,  K.  Stuart,  12 

Poole,  W.  H.,  131 

C 


386 


INDEX. 


Population,  317;  population  in 
town  and  country,  20,  363  ; 
changes  of,  314  ;  decays  of,  319  ; 
effects  of  early  marriages  on,  320 

Portraits,  composite  (see  Composite 
Portraiture) ;  number  of  elements 
in  a  portrait,  5  ;  the  National 
Portrait  Gallery,  6 

Prayer,  objective  efficacy  of,  277  ; 
theocratic  intervention,  272,  276  ; 
praying  wheels  of  Thibet,  277 

Prejudices  instilled  by  doctrinal 
teachers,  210  ;  affect  the  judg- 
ments of  able  men,  211 

Presence-chamber  in  mind,  203 

Pricker  for  statistical  records,  55 

Princeton  College,  U.S.,  131,  132 

Prisms,  double  image,  346 

Proudfoot,  Mr.,  102 

Psychometric  Experiments,  185 

Puritans,  8 

Quakers,  frequency  of  colour  blind- 
ness, 47  ;  business  on  equal  terms 
with  the  pious  and  the  profane, 
292 

QuartQ.es,  52  ;  see  93,  94 

Questions  on  visualising  and  other 
allied  faculties,  378 

Quetelet,  350 

Kace  and  Selection,  305  ;  influence 
of  man  upon,  308 ;  variety  and 
number  of  races  in  different 
countries,  311  ;  sexual  apathy  of 
decaying  races,  319  ;  signs  of 
superior  race,  324  ;  pride  in 
being  of  good  race,  331 

Races  established  to  discover  the 
best  horses  to  breed  from,  329 

Rapp,  General,  175 

Rapture,  religious,  67 

Rayleigh,  Lord,  sensitive  flame  and 
high  notes,  39 

Religion,  209 

Renaissance,  178 

Republic  of  self-reliant  men,  8 1 ;  of 
life  generally,  300  ;  cosmic,  333 


Revivals,  religious,  67 

Richardson,  Sir  John,  246 

Roberts,  C,  20 

Roget,  J.,  118,  135 

Rome,  wild  animals  captured  for  use 

of,  256 
Rosiere,  marriage  portion  to,  328 

Sailors,  keenness  of  eyesight  tested, 
32  ;  admiralty  life -histories  of, 
42 ;  in  stormy  weather  they 
desire  sea-room,  298 

St.  James's  Gazette  (Phantasmagoria), 
167 

Savages,  eyesight  of,  32 
|  Schools,  biographical  notes  at,  41  ; 
opportunities  of  masters,  42  ;  ob- 
servation of  characters  at,  57,  60 

Schuster,  Prof.,  118,  134 

Sea-room,  298 

Seal  in  pond,  a  simile,  168  ;  cap- 
tured and  tamed,  264 

Seemann,  Dr.,  252 

Seers,  see  chapter  on  Visionaries, 
155  ;  heredity  of,  173 

Selection  and  Race,  305 

Self,  becoming  less  personal,  300 

Sensitivity,  27 

Sentiments,  early,  208 

Sequence  op  Test  Weights,  34 

Serpent  worship,  59 

Servility,  see  Gregarious  and  Slav- 
ish instincts,  68  ;  its  romantic 
side,  82 

Sexual  differences  in  sensitivity,  29  ; 
in  character,  56  ;  apathy  in  highly- 
bred  animals,  306 

Siberia,  change  of  population  in,  315 

Silkworms  and  their  caretaker,  272 

Slave-ships  and  their  sea  risks,  291 

Slavishness,  see  Gregarious  and 
Slavish  Instincts,  68 

Smith,  B.  Woodd,  118,  136  ;  curi- 
ous Number-Form  communicated 
by,  137 

Sinythe,  G.  F.,  142- 

Snakes,  horror  of  some  persons  at,  59 

Socrates  and  his  catelepsy,  176 


INDEX. 


387 


Solitude,  68 

Space  and  time,  302 

Spain,  the  races  in,  311 

Spiritual-mindedness,  295  ;  spirit- 
ual sense,  the,  303 

Spencer,  H.,  blended  outlines,  340 

Stars  of  great  men,  175 

Statistical  Methods,  49  ;  statis- 
tical constancy,  49  ;  that  of  re- 
publics of  self-reliant  men,  81  ; 
statistics  of  mental  imagery,  93, 
94  ;  of  prayer,  278  ;  objections 
to  the  value  of  statistical  inquiry 
(theocratic  intervention),  272  ; 
pictorial  statistics,  353 

Stature  of  the  English,  22 

Steinitz,  Mr.,  96 

Still-births,  285 

Stones,  Miss,  133,  149 

Stow,  Mr.,  102 

Talbot  Fox,  256 

Talmud,  frecpiency  of  the  different 

numerals  in,  145 
Tameness,  learned  when  young,  214; 

tame  cattle  preserved  to   breed 

from,  269 
Tastes,  changes  in,  180 
Terror  at  snakes,  59  ;  at  blood,  60  ; 

is  easily  taught,  213 
Test  objects,  weights,  etc.,  34,  370 
Theocratic  Intervention,  271 
Time  and  space,  302 
Town  and  countrypopulation,2  0,3  6  3 
Trousseau,  Dr.,  227 
Turner,  the  painter,  172 
Twins,  the  history  of,  216 
Typical  centre,  305 
Tyranny,  79 


Ulloa,  247 

Unclean,  the,  and  the  clean,  215 
Unconsciousness    op    Peculiari- 
ties, 45  ;  in  visionaries,  156 
Urim  and  Thummim,  294 

Variety  op  Human  Nature,  2 
Visionaries,  155  ;  visionary  fami- 
lies and  races,  100,  173,  207 

Watches,  magnetised,  211 

Weather,  the,  and  prayer,  286 

Welch,  Mrs.  Kempe,  147 

West  Indies,  change  of  population 
in,  316 

Wheel  and  barrel,  24 

Whistles  for  Audibility  op 
Shrill  Notes,  38,  375 

Wildness  taught  young,  214 

Wilkes,  Capt.,  252 

Winchester  College,  131,  132 

Witches,  no  longer  exorcised,  etc., 
293 

Wollaston,  Dr.,  38 

Women,  relative  sensitivity,  of,  29  ; 
coyness  and  caprice,  56  ;  visual- 
ising faculty,  99 

Woodfield,  Mr.  (Australia),  251 

Workers,  solitary,  26 

Young,  Dr.,  48 

Yule,  Colonel,  118,  134 

Zoological  Gardens,  whistles  tried 
at  39  ;  snakes  fed,  58  ;  seal  at, 
168 

Zuckertort,  Mr.,  96 


Printed  by  R.  &  R.  Clark,  Edinburgh. 


PLATE    IV. 


Colour  associations.     Colour  Associations.  69  Mental  Imagery  ,■„  u,.  i/.-.vgmsim. 

by  vai-ious  persona  by  Drjgmea  Key \    A  n<no/    I  i-,',V 


I  i      n  n    ii   u    I    o  vj  rt    L  lUrt 

aHLME      .  r 

LONDON  <£L~flB 

rii  . 


ou 

red, blue, green.1  rJ 
yellow.purplebrown.r^sTFD     gIaTd. 
golden,  silver,  black 
white  A'iolet.or     e. 


RANGE  SWEET 


